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REFERENCE 

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—Ionian     „  Barbarian  „ 


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Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2014 


https://archive.org/details/glorythatwasgreeOOstob_0 


THE    GLORY    THAT  WAS 

GREECE 

By  J.  C.  STOBART,  M.A. 

SOME  OPINIONS  OF  THE  PRESS 

"  Mr.  Stobart  does  a  real  service  when  he  gives  the  reading  but 
non-expert  public  this  fine  volume,  embodying  the  latest  results  of 
research,  blending  them,  too,  into  as  agreeable  a  narrative  as  we 
have  met  with  for  a  long  while.  .  .  .  There  is  not  a  dull  line  in  his 
book.  He  has  plenty  of  humour,  as  a  writer  needs  must  have  who 
is  to  deal  with  men  from  the  human  standpoint.  .  .  .  It  is  beautifully 
produced,  and  the  plates,  both  in  colour  and  monochrome,  are  as 
numerous  and  well  chosen  as  they  are  striking  and  instructive." — 
Guardian. 

"  Mr.  Stobart  has  produced  the  very  book  to  show  the  modern 
barbarian  the  meaning  of  Hellenism.  He  exhibits  the  latest  dis- 
coveries from  Cnossus  and  elsewhere,  the  new-found  masterpieces 
along  with  the  old.  He  criticises  and  appraises  the  newest  theories, 
ranging  from  the  influence  of  malaria  to  the  origins  of  drama.  He 
has  something  for  everybody.  .  .  .  The  book  is  nobly  illustrated  .  .  . 
no  such  collection  of  beautiful  things  of  this  kind  has  yet  been  placed 
before  the  English  public." — Saturday  Review. 

"  He  really  helps  to  make  ancient  Greece  a  living  reality ;  and  the 
illustrations,  a  conspicuous  feature  of  the  book,  are  good  and  well 
selected,  the  photographic  views  gaining  much  from  the  reproduc- 
tion on  a  dull-surfaced  paper." — Times. 

"  A  more  beautiful  book  than  this  has  rarely  been  printed.  .  .  . 
The  pictures  of  Greek  scenery,  sculpture,  vases,  etc.,  are  exceptionally 
good." — Evening  Standard. 

"  One  of  the  most  beautiful  and  attractive  volumes  that  have  of 
late  left  the  press.  .  .  .  The  whole  is  an  artistic  production  worthy  of 
the  subject  of  which  it  treats." — Sunday  Times. 

"No  better  guide  through  the  labyrinth  of  things  Hellenic  has 
appeared  in  our  day,  and  both  brush  and  camera  yield  of  their 
choicest  to  make  the  book  an  enduring  joy." — Daily  Chronicle. 

"A  vivid  picture  of  a  wonderful  civilisation  which  should  fire  many 
to  further  studies." — Sheffield  Daily  Telegraph. 


THE  GRANDEUR  THAT  WAS 
ROME 


By  J.  C.  STOBART,  M.A. 

SOME  OPINIONS  OF  THE  PRESS 

"  Last  year  we  referred  in  very  eulogistic  terms  to  Mr.  Stobart's 
The  Glory  that  was  Grace.  We  are  glad  that  we  are  able  to  extend 
the  same  praise  to  the  companion  book.  .  .  .  This  book  is  worthy  of 
its  subject,  viz.,  to  weigh  the  value  of  Koine's  contributions  to  the 
lasting  welfare  of  mankind,  and  to  apportion  Rome's  importance  in 
the  progress  of  civilisation.  The  author  does  not  treat  only  of  the 
Roman  Republic,  as  is  frequently  the  case,  but  devotes  equal  space 
to  the  Imperial  Rome  to  which  the  Republic  was  a  mere  preface. 
Illustrations  and  pictures  form  again  an  integral  part  of  the  author's 
method  of  presentment.  .  .  .  The  book  is  written  in  an  instructive 
and  attractive  manner  and  is  certain  to  gain  as  much  praise  as  its 
companion  on  Greece." — Sunday  Times. 

Here  is  one  of  the  books  whose  readers  can  never  forget  them. 
Mr.  Stobart  gives  a  new  vitality  to  his  whole  theme;  he  mak< is 
the  dry  bones  live,  and  with  bones  that  have  been  so  long  bleaching 
in  the  examination  room  that  is  a  very  great  achievement  indeed.  .  .  . 
It  is  a  brilliant  effort  at  the  interpretation  of  history — a  piece  of  in- 
tellectual work  worthy  In  every  way  of  the  sumptuous  illustrations 
with  which  it  is  so  thickly  studded." — I'all  Mall  Gazette. 

"  Mr.  Stobart's  new  volume  is  a  worthy  successor  to  his  Glory  that 
was  Greece.  It  exhibits  the  same  capacity  for  grasping  the  salient 
points,  the  same  incisiveness  of  expression,  the  same  courage  and 
independence  of  view." — Birmingham  Daily  Post. 

"  No  higher  praise  can  be  given  to  the  numerous  photographs  of 
places,  monuments,  and  statues  than  to  say  that  they  maintain  the 
supreme  standard  reached  in  the  companion  volume  on  Greece." — 
Daily  Chronicle. 

"One  of  the  most  charming  books  in  our  language  on  the  history 
of  the  mistress  of  the  world.  .  .  .  The  illustrations  are  chosen  with 
equal  width  of  interest,  and  they  are  reproduced  with  every  modern 
resource." — Yorkshire  Observer. 

"Chronological  summary  and  index  are  excellent,  and  the  book  is 
an  tuition  de  luxe,  a  triumph  of  publishing  skill." — Glasgow  Herald. 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 


THE    GLORY    THAT  WAS 


GREECE 

A  Survey  of  Hellenic  Culture 
and  Civilisation  ;  by 


J.  C.  Stobart,  M.A. 


PHILADELPHIA  :  J.  B.  LIPPINCOTT  COMPANY 

LONDON:  SIDGWICK  &  JACKSON  LTD. 

MCMXV 


First  Edition,  Super- Royal  8vo,  ign 
Second  Edition,  Revised,  Royal  8vot 


PRINTED  BY 
BALLANTYNE,  HANSON  6*  CO.  LTD. 
AT  THE   BALLANTYNE  PRESS 
LONDON  AND  EDINBURGH 


PREFACE 


With  the  progress  of  research,  classical  scholarship  tends 
more  and  more  towards  narrower  fields  of  specialisation.  Real 
students  are  now  like  miners  working  underground  each  in  his 
own  shaft,  buried  far  away  from  sight  or  ear-shot  of  the  public, 
so  that  they  even  begin  to  lose  touch  with  one  another.  This 
makes  an  occasional  survey  of  the  whole  field  of  operations  not 
only  necessary  for  interested  onlookers,  whether  they  happen 
to  be  shareholders  or  not,  but  also  serviceable  to  the  scholars 
themselves.  The  task  of  furnishing  it,  however,  is  not  an  easy 
one.  No  man  nowadays  can  be  as  fully  equipped  in  archaeology, 
history,  and  literary  criticism  as  were  great  writers  of  general 
history  in  the  last  century  like  George  Grote  and  Theodor 
Mommsen.  We  are  driven,  therefore,  to  one  of  two  courses: 
either  to  compile  encyclopaedic  works  by  various  writers  under 
slight  editorial  control,  or  else  to  sacrifice  detail  and  attempt  in 
a  much  less  ambitious  spirit  to  present  a  panorama  of  the  whole 
territory  from  an  individual  point  of  view.  The  former  plan  is 
constantly  producing  valuable  storehouses  of  information  to  be 
used  for  purposes  of  reference.  But  they  tend  to  grow  in  bulk 
and  compression,  until,  like  the  monumental  "  Pauly-Wissowa," 
they  are  nothing  but  colossal  dictionaries. 

The  writer  who  attempts  the  second  plan  will,  of  course,  be 
inviting  criticism  at  a  thousand  points.  He  is  compelled  to 
deal  in  large  generalisations,  and  to  tread  upon  innumerable 
toes  with  every  step  he  takes.  Every  fact  he  chronicles  is  the 
subject  of  a  monograph,  every  opinion  he  hazards  may  run 
counter  to  somebody's  life-work.    He  will  often  have  to  neglect 

vii 


PREFACE 

the  latest  theory  and  sometimes  he  is  unaware  of  the  latest 
discovery.  The  best  that  he  can  hope  for  is  that  his  archaeology 
may  satisfy  the  historians  and  his  history  the  archaeologists. 
My  only  claim  to  the  right  of  undertaking  such  a  task  is  that 
circumstances  have  so  directed  my  studies  that  they  have  been 
almost  equally  divided  between  the  three  main  branches — 
archaeology,  history,  and  literature.  I  have  experienced  the 
extraordinary  sense  of  illumination  which  one  feels  on  turning 
from  linguistic  study  to  the  examination  of  objective  antiquity 
on  the  actual  soil  of  the  classical  countries,  and  then  the  added 
interest  with  which  realities  are  invested  by  the  literary  records 
of  history. 

It  is  by  another  title  that  the  writer  of  a  book  like  this  makes 
his  appeal  to  the  general  reading  public.  He  must  feel  such 
a  love  of  Greece  and  of  things  Hellenic  that  he  is  led  by  it  into 
missionaiy  enthusiasm.  The  Greek  language  has  now,  probably 
for  ever,  lost  its  place  in  the  curriculum  of  secondary  education 
for  the  greater  part  of  our  people.  Whether  this  is  to  be 
deplored  is  beyond  the  question ;  it  is,  at  any  rate,  inevitable. 
But  there  has  always  been  a  genuinely  cultivated  public  to 
whom  Greek  was  unknown,  and  it  is  undoubtedly  very  much 
larger  in  this  generation.  To  them,  though  Greek  is  unknown 
Greece  need  not  be  wholly  sealed.  But  their  point  of  view 
will  be  different  from  that  of  the  professional  philologist. 
They  will  not  care  for  the  details  of  the  siege  of  Plataea  merely 
because  Thucydides  described  it ;  they  will  be  much  less  likely 
to  overrate  the  importance  of  that  narrow  strip  of  time  which 
scholars  select  out  of  Greek  history  as  the  "  classical  period." 
Greek  art  will  make  the  strongest  appeal  to  them,  and  Greek 
thought,  so  far  as  it  can  be  communicated  by  description. 
They  will  be  interested  in  social  life  and  private  antiquities 
rather  than  in  diplomatic  intrigues  and  constitutional  subtleties. 
My  object  is  to  present  a  general  and  vivid  picture  of  ancient 
Greek  culture.  I  recognise  that  the  brush  and  camera  will  tell 
of  the  glory  of  Greece  far  more  eloquently  than  I  can.  My 
text  is  intended  to  explain  the  pictures  by  showing  the  sort  of 
viii 


PREFACE 

people  and  the  state  of  mind  that  produced  them.  Some 
history,  some  politics,  some  religion  and  philosophy  must  be 
included  for  that  purpose.  The  result  will  be  a  history  of 
Greece  with  statues  and  poems  taking  the  place  of  wars  and 
treaties. 

This  volume  is  fortunate  in  the  moment  of  its  appearance, 
for  it  is  now  possible  for  the  first  time  to  illustrate  the  pre- 
historic culture  of  Greece  in  a  worthy  manner,  and  to  attempt, 
at  any  rate,  to  link  it  up  historically  with  the  classical  periods. 
Both  the  Ashmolean  Museum  at  Oxford,  and  the  British 
Museum  have  recently  added  to  their  collections  magnificent 
and  faithful  models  of  the  artistic  treasures  of  Crete  and 
Mycenae.  These  I  have  been  allowed  to  reproduce  in  colour 
(Plates  5  and  6)  by  kind  permission  of  Sir  A.  J.  Evans.  I 
must  also  acknowledge  my  obligation  to  the  Director  of  the 
Museum  of  Fine  Arts,  Boston,  Mass.,  U.S.A.,  for  permission 
to  reproduce  photographs  of  the  lately  discovered  reliefs  from 
the  "Ludovisi  Throne,"  which  have  not  as  yet  been  adequately 
reproduced  anywhere  (Plate  32) ;  to  the  Committee  of  the 
British  School  at  Athens,  through  the  kind  offices  of  the 
Secretary,  Mr.  John  Penoyre,  for  permission  to  use  many  of 
the  illustrations  of  Cretan  objects  that  have  appeared  in  their 
Annual;  to  Mr.  John  Murray,  for  the  use  of  the  block  repre- 
senting the  "Cupbearer  Fresco"  (Plate  7)  and  the  illustra- 
tion on  p.  27  from  Schliemann's  "Tiryns";  to  the  Cambridge 
University  Press  for  a  similar  accommodation  in  respect  of 
the  illustration  (p.  37)  from  Professor  Ridgeway's  "  Early  Age 
of  Greece  " ;  and  to  M.  Ernest  Leroux,  of  Paris,  for  courteously 
permitting  a  reproduction  to  be  made  from  a  plate  in  MM. 
Reinach  and  Hamdy  Bey's  sumptuous  work,  "  Une  N^cropole 
Royale  a  Sidon."  The  authorities  of  the  Greek  and  Roman 
and  of  the  Coin  and  Medal  Departments  of  the  British  Museum 
have  also  allowed  many  subjects  to  be  reproduced ;  while  I 
have  gratefully  to  record  the  fact  that  the  task  of  illustrating 
this  book  has  been  materially  lightened  by  the  co-operation 
of  Messrs.  W.  A.  Mansell  &  Co.    I  must  thank  Mr.  Robert 

ix 


PREFACE 

Whitelaw  and  his  publishers,  Messrs.  Longmans,  for  per- 
mission to  quote  from  the  former's  translation  of  Sophocles, 
and  finally  I  must  acknowledge  my  debt  to  Mr.  Arnold  Gomme 
for  much  assistance  in  the  correction  of  the  proofs  of  this 
book. 

J.  C.  S. 

191 1. 

The  issue  of  a  second  edition  has  afforded  an  opportunity 
of  revising  the  text  throughout,  of  extending  the  Biblio- 
graphy, and  of  adding,  in  the  Glossary  and  Index,  accents 
and  quantity-marks  to  the  proper  names  and  Greek  words, 
in  order  to  assist  the  non-classical  reader  to  the  correct 
pronunciation. 

J.  C.  S. 

1915- 


Mycenaean  Gems  (jee  p.  2j) 


x 


CONTENTS 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS  xm 

INTRODUCTION 

Hellenism  :  The  Land  and  its  People  i 

CHAP. 

I.  ^)GEAN  CIVILISATION 

A  New  Chapter  in  History  :  Crete,  the 
Doorstep  of  Europe  :  Progress  of  jEgean 
Culture  :  The  Mainland  Palaces,  Mycenae 
and  Tiryns  :  The  Makers  of  tEgean  Art  12 

II.  THE  HEROIC  AGE 

The  Northern  Invaders  :  Homer  and  the 
Ach^eans  :  The  Shield  of  Achilles  :  Kings 
and  Gods  :  Art  of  the  I.iic  Period  :  The 
Hero's  Home  :  Hesiod's  Worli  35 

III.  THE  AGES  OF  TRANSITION 

The  Coming  of  Apollo  :  Athletics  : 
Sparta  :  Pallas  Athene  :  Tyranny  and 
Culture  :  Ionia  :  The  West  65 

IV.  THE  GRAND  CENTURY 

The  Rise  of  Athens  :  Pheidias  :  Ictinus 
and  the  Temple-builders  :  Tragedy  and 
Comedy  :  AidOs  132 

V.  THE  FOURTH  CENTURY 

Athens  :  Sparta  and  Thebes  :  Fourth- 
century  Culture  :  Sculpture  :  The 
Other  Arts  :  Literature  and  Philosophy  194 

VI.  THE  MACEDONIAN  WORLD 

Alexander  and  his  Work  :  Alexander  in 

Art   :    Alexandria  :    Athens    and  her 

Philosophers  237 

VII.  EPILOGUE  260 
GLOSSARY  267 
BIBLIOGRAPHY  270 
INDEX  275 

xi 


NOTE 


The  cameo  on  the  front  cover  of  this  volume  is  from  a 
jasper  intaglio^  at  Vienna,  of  the  bust  of  Jlthena 
'ParthenoSy  signed  by  Aspasios. 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


PHOTOGRAVURE  PLATE 

HEAD  AND  BUST  OF  THE  APHRODITE  OF  MELOS  jw*** 
Engraved  by  Emery  Walker  from  a  photograph  by  Mansell  &  Co.  of 
the  original  in  the  Louvre,  Paris.  See  p.  251 


PACE 


VASE  PLATE  (IN  COLOUR)  II2 
Corinthian  Vase  (Fig.  i) 

British  Museum,  Second  Vase  Room,  Case  8,  A  1375 
Red-figured  Vase  (Fic.  2) 

British  Museum,  Third  Vase  Room,  Case  17,  E  453 

Black-ficured  Vase  (Fig.  3) 

British  Museum,  Second  Vase  Room,  Case  I,  B  134 

White  Polychrome  Vase  (Fic.  4) 

British  Museum,  Third  Vase  Room,  Case  F,  D  60 


TIATK 

1  THE  ACROPOLIS  OF  ATHENS  (Fic.  1)  6 

From  a  photograph 

THE  CITADEL  OF  CORINTH  (Fic.  2) 

From  a  photograph  by  the  English  Photo  Co.,  Athens.   In  the  fore- 
ground are  the  columns  of  the  oldest  temple  in  Greece 

2  OLYMPIA  :  VALLEY  OF  THE  ALPHEUS  10 

From  a  photograph  by  Alinari.  A  specimen  of  Greek  scenery  in  one 
of  the  few  well-watered  plains 

3  THE  VALE  OF  TEMPE  18 

From  a  photograph  by  the  English  Photo  Co.,  Athens.  The  famous 
pass  at  which  a  vain  attempt  was  made  to  repel  the  Persian  invasion  of 
480  B.C. 

f  ASSYRIAN  RELIEF :    KING  ASSURNASIRPAL   (NINTH  CEN- 
TURY B.C.)  20 
From  a  photograph  by  Mansell  &  Co.  of  Slab  36  in  the  Nimroud 
Gallery,  British  Museum.  An  example  of  stylistic  Oriental  art  at  its 
highest.  See  p.  19 

xiii 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


5  FAIENCE  FROM  THE  TEMPLE  REPOSITORY  OF  THE  SECOND 

PALACE,  CNOSSOS,  CRETE  22 

Snake  Goddess  (Fig.  i).  See  p.  34 

Wild  Goat  and  Young  (Fic.  2) 

Painted  from  the  facsimiles  in  the  Ashmolean  Museum,  Oxford, 
by  Diana  R.  Wilson,  by  special  permission.  See  p.  22.  According  to 
Greek  mythology  Zeus  was  suckled  by  a  she-goat  in  Crete 

6  BULL'S  HEAD.    LIFE-SIZE  RELIEF  IN  PAINTED  STUCCO. 

CNOSSOS,  CRETE  26 
Painted  from  the  facsimile  in  the  Ashmolean  Museum,  Oxford,  by 
Diana  R.  Wilson,  by  special  permission.    See  p.  25.    The  bull  is  a  very 
frequent  subject  of  artistic  representation  at  Cnossos,  where  bull- 
fighting seems  to  have  been  in  vogue 

7  THE  "CUPBEARER"  FRESCO  28 

From  an  article  by  Sir  A.  J.  Evans  in  the  Monthly  Review,  March, 
1 901  ;  by  kind  permission  of  Mr.  John  Murray.    See  pp.  25  and  32 

8  THE  LION  GATE,  MYCEN^  30 

From  a  photograph  by  the  English  Photo  Co.,  Athens.    Showing  the 
sculpture  and  masonry  of  prehistoric  Greece.    See  p.  29 

9  VAPHIO  CUPS  34 

Reproduced  from  the  facsimiles  in  the  British  Museum,  First  Vase 
Room,  Case  B.  Two  gold  cups  found  on  Spartan  territory.  The  design 
is  in  relief  beaten  up  from  the  back.  One  shows  the  trapping  of  wild 
cattle,  the  other  tame  cattle  going  to  pasture.  The  vessels  are  about 
the  size  of  the  modern  teacup.    See  p.  30 

10  INLAID  DAGGER-BLADES  36 

Reproduced  from  the  electrotypes  in  the  British  Museum,  as  Plate  9. 
They  show  the  dress  and  weapons  of  Mgt&n  folk.  All  but  the  blade  is 
a  restoration.  See  p.  30 

11  WARRIOR  VASE,  BLACK  STEATITE  (Fig.  i)  44 

These  vases  were  originally  covered  with  gold-leaf.  The  subjects  have 
not  yet  been  completely  explained.  Probably  the  whole  vase  deals 
with  athletic  combats :  running  and  leaping  on  the  top  zone,  bull- 
fighting on  the  second,  and  boxing  on  the  third  and  fourth 

FRAGMENT  OF  SILVER  VASE  (Fig.  2) 

Reproduced  from  the  facsimiles  in  the  British  Museum,  as  Plate  9. 
See  p.  38.  The  subject  is  the  siege  of  a  city.  We  observe  that  here,  as  in 
the  previous  illustrations,  the  warriors  are  represented  as  almost  naked. 
They  fight  with  slings  and  arrows  and  protect  themselves  with  huge 
shields  of  wicker 

xiv 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


I  .11 


12  THE  "  FRANCOIS  "  VASE  46 

Reproduced  from  a  photograph  by  Alinari.  See  pp.  43  and  57.  A 
masterpiece  of  the  earlier  Attic  school  of  vase-painting.  It  is  signed  by 
Ergotimus  and  Klitias,  sixth  century  B.C.  The  scenes  are  mythological 

13  HERMES  KRIOPHOROS  (THE  LAMB-CARRIER)  66 

From  a  terra-cotta  relief,  British  Museum,  Terra-cotta  Room,  Case  C, 
B  486.  A  fine  example  of  archaic  relief-work,  showing  Hermes  as  the 
Arcadian  shepherd's  god 

14  PANORAMA  OF  DELPHI  68 

From  a  photograph  by  the  English  Photo  Co.,  Athens.  See  p.  69 

15  "APOLLO"  FROM  ORCHOMENUS  70 

From  a  photograph  by  the  English  Photo  Co.,  Athens,  of  the  original 
in  the  National  Museum.  See  pp.  69  and  70 

16  "  APOLLO  "  OF  TENEA  74 

Reproduced  from  a  photograph  by  Hanfstaengl  of  the  original  at 
Munich 

17  THE  "  STRANGFORD  APOLLO  "  76 

From  a  photograph  by  Mansell  &  Co.  of  the  original  in  the  Archaic 
Room,  British  Museum.  These  three  figures  may  indicate  the  progresi 
of  early  Greek  sculpture  in  expressing  the  human  figure.  There  is  little 
ground  for  calling  these  figures  "  Apollo."  They  may  equally  well 
be  human  athletes 

18  HEAD    OF    APOLLO,    FROM   THE    WESTERN  PEDIMENT, 

OLYMPIA  78 
Reproduced  from  a  photograph  by  the  English  Photo  Co.,  Athens,  of 
the  marble  at  Olympia.  See  p.  70 

19  THE  "  DISCOBOLUS  "  OF  MYRON  (Fig.  i)  80 

From  a  photograph  by  Anderson  of  a  cast  from  the  original  in  a  private 
collection  at  Rome.  The  copy  in  the  British  Museum  (drawn  on  p.  80) 
has  the  head  reversed.  See  p.  81 

THE  "  DIADUMENUS  "  OF  POLYCLE1TUS  (Fig.  2) 

From  a  photograph  by  Mansell  &  Co.  He  is  binding  the  victor's  garland 
round  his  forehead.  This  is,  perhaps,  the  best  of  several  copies  made 
from  the  famous  original,  but  it  is  much  restored  and  probably  not  a 
very  faithful  copy 

20  THE  "  DORYPHORUS  "  OF  POLYCLEITUS  (Fig.  1)  84 

From  a  photograph  by  Brogi 

THE  "  APOXYOMENUS  "  (Fic.  2) 

From  a  photograph  by  Alinari.  Scep.%1.  The  recent  discovery  of  the 
Agias  (PI.  51)  has  proved  that  this  is  not,  as  was  formerly  supposed,  a 
true  example  of  the  work  of  Lysippus 

b  XV 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


TO  FACZ 
PAGE 


21  CHARIOTEER :  BRONZE  86 

From  a  photograph  by  Mansell  &  Co.  of  a  cast  from  the  original  at 
Delphi.  See  p.  81 

22  VIEW  OF  MODERN  SPARTA,  WITH  MOUNT  TAYGETUS  90 

From  a  photograph  by  the  English  Photo  Co.,  Athens.  See  p.  87 

23  RUNNING  GIRL  92 

Reproduced  from  a  photograph  by  Anderson.  Represents  a  competitor 
in  the  girls'  foot-race  which  took  place  at  Olympia  in  honour  of  Hera. 
The  original  must  have  been  in  bronze,  but  this  marble  copy  reproduces 
its  archaic  character.  See  p.  83 

24  ATHENA  PROMACHOS,  FROM  A  PANATHENAIC  AMPHORA  94 

Drawn  from  Vase  B  140  in  the  Second  Vase  Room,  British  Museum 
(Case  I).  See  pp.  95  and  112 

25  DEMETER,  PERSEPHONE,  AND  TRIPTOLEMUS  (ELEUSINIAN 

RELIEF)  96 
From  a  photograph  by  the  English  Photo  Co.  of  the  original  marble 
relief  at  Athens.  See  p.  98 

26  ATHENA  POLIAS  98 

From  a  photograph  by  the  English  Photo  Co.,  Athens,  of  the  original 
bronze  statuette  in  the  Acropolis  Museum.  See  p.  102 

27  CORINTHIAN  VASES  102 

Reproduced  from  a  photograph  of  the  originals  in  the  British  Museum, 
Second  Vase  Room,  Case  8,  A  1430,  and  Case  16,  B  29.  The  style 
of  these  vases  may  be  distinguished  by  the  purple  tones  of  the  colouring 
and  the  Oriental  character  of  the  designs.  See  Vase  Plate,  Fig.  I,  and 
p.  105 

28  OLD  TEMPLE  AT  CORINTH  106 

From  a  photograph  by  the  English  Photo  Co.,  Athens.  See  p.  107 

29  STELE  OF  ARISTION  (Fig.  i)  iio 

From  a  photograph  by  the  English  Photo  Co.,  Athens,  of  the  original 
in  the  National  Museum.  See  p.  1 14 

HARMODIUS  (Fig.  2) 

From  a  photograph  by  Alinari  of  the  original  in  the  Naples  Museum. 
See  p.  116 

30  SCULPTURED  COLUMN  FROM  THE  OLD  TEMPLE  OF  AR- 

TEMIS AT  EPHESUS  (Fig.  i)  114 
From  a  photograph  by  Mansell  &  Co.  of  the  original  in  the  British 
Museum.  It  was  dedicated,  as  the  inscription  shows,  by  King  Croesus. 
See  p.  123 

xvi 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


TO  FACE 
PACe 


30  RELIEF  FROM  THE  HARPY  TOMB  :  NORTH  SIDE  (Fig.  2)  114 

From  a  photograph  by  Mansell  &  Co.  of  the  original  in  the  Archaic 
Room, British  Museum.  In  the  centre,  a  warrior  yielding  up  his  armour 
to  Pluto.  On  the  right  and  left,  Fates  ("  Harpies  ")  carrying  off  the 
souls  of  the  dead.  In  the  right  corner,  a  woman  mourning.  See  p.  123 

31  RELIEFS  FROM  THE  "  LUDOVISI  THRONE"  116 

From  photographs  by  Alinari  of  the  originals  at  Rome.  See  p.  124 

32  RELIEFS  FROM  THE  "  LUDOVISI  THRONE  "  124 

Reproduced  from  photographs  of  the  originals  in  the  Museum  of 
Fine  Arts,  Boston,  Mass.,  U.S.A.,  by  kind  permission  of  the  Director. 
See  p.  125 

33  THE  TEMPLE  OF  POSEIDON  AT  PRESTO  126 

From  a  photograph  by  Brogi.  See  p.  128 

34  METOPES  FROM  THE  TEMPLE  OF  HERA  AT  SELINUS  130 
Perseus  and  Gorgon  (Fig.  i) 

Hera  and  Zeus  (Fig.  2) 

From  photographs  by  Alinari  of  the  originals,  now  in  the  Palermo 
Museum.  See  p.  130 

35  EARLY  COINS  OF  SICILY  AND  MAGNA  GR^ECIA  132 

Photographed  from  casts  in  the  British  Museum.  See  p.  131 
Case  I,  Section  C. 

1.  Silver  Didrachm  of  Naxos,  No.  31 

Obverse:  Head  of  Dionysus  crowned  with  ivy.  Reverse:  Bunch  of 
grapes  and  inscription 

2.  Silver  Didrachm  of  Tarentum,  No.  7 

Reverse  :  Archaic  head,  ?  Taras.  Obverse  :  Taras  (the  city's  hero) 
riding  a  dolphin,  cockle-shell  and  inscription 

3.  Silver  Tetradrachm  of  Catana,  No.  25 

Reverse:  Winged  Victory  holding  a  wreath.  Obverse:  River-god  as 
a  bull  with  man's  head,  a  fish  below  and  a  water-bird  abovt 

4.  Silver  Tetradrachm  of  Syracuse,  No.  35 

Reverse:  Head  of  Arethusa  surrounded  with  dolphins.  Obverse: 
Four-horse  chariot  with  Victory  above 

36  THE  PLAIN  OF  MARATHON  134 

From  a  photograph  by  the  English  Photo  Co.,  Athens.  See  p.  134 

37  THE  BAY  OF  SALAMIS  138 

From  a  photograph  by  the  English  Photo  Co.,  Athens.  See  p.  138 

38  PERICLES  I4° 

From  a  photograph  by  Mansell  &  Co.  of  the  original  in  the  British 
Museum,  after  Cresilas.  See  p.  14a 

xvii 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

TO  FACE 

PLATE  PACK 

39  PEDIMENTAL  FIGURES  FROM  THE  TEMPLE  OF  APHAIA 

AT  iEGINA  143 
From  photographs  by  Bruckmann  of  the  originals  at  Munich.  See  p.  147 

40  SCULPTURES  OF  THE  EASTERN  PEDIMENT  OF  THE  PAR- 

THENON 


From  photographs  by  Mansell  &  Co.  of  the  originals  in  the  Elgin 
Room,  British  Museum.  See  p.  151 


[44 


41  PORTIONS  OF  THE  EAST  FRIEZE  OF  THE  PARTHENON  146 

Figures  referenced  30-48  in  the  British  Museum.  See  p.  154 

42  PORTIONS  OF  THE  WEST  FRIEZE  OF  THE  PARTHENON  148 

Figures  referenced  2-3,  16-19,  and  28-30  in  the  British  Museum 
From  photographs  by  Mansell  &  Co.  of  the  originals  and  casts  in  the 
British  Museum.    (Some  of  the  marbles  are  still  in  situ  at  Athens.) 
See  p.  155 

43  THE  "  STRANGFORD  "  SHIELD  (Fig.  i)  150 

From  a  photograph  by  Mansell  &  Co.  of  the  marble  copy  in  the  British 
Museum.  The  old  Greek  striking  down  an  Amazon  is  said  to  be  a 
portrait  of  Pheidias  by  himself.  See  p.  156 

RECONSTRUCTION  OF  THE  ACROPOLIS  (Fig.  2) 

From  a  drawing  by  R.  Bohn  in  the  British  Museum.  See  p.  163 

44  THE  LEMNIAN  ATHENA  154 

From  a  photograph  by  Tamme  of  the  marble  at  Dresden,  completed 
by  Furtwangler  from  the  head  at  Bologna.  See  p.  157 

45  HEAD  OF  THE  LEMNIAN  ATHENA  156 

From  a  photograph  by  Alinari  of  the  marble  at  Bologna.  See  p.  158 

46  STATUE  OF  MARSYAS,  AFTER  MYRON  158 

From  a  photograph  by  Mansell  &  Co.  of  the  original  bronze  in  the 
British  Museum,  after  Myron.  See  p.  159 

46a  BOY  VICTOR.   BRONZE,  FIFTH  CENTURY  B.C.  160 
From  a  photograph  by  Bruckmann  of  the  original  in  the  Glyptothek, 
Munich.  See  p.  160 

47  THE  VICTORY  OF  P^ONIUS  (Fig.  i)  162 

From  a  photograph  of  the  original  at  Olympia 

THE  "  SPINARIO  "  (Fig.  2) 

From  a  photograph  of  the  original  at  Florence.  See  p.  161 

48  THE  PARTHENON  :  MODERN  VIEW  FROM  NORTH-WEST  164 

From  a  photograph  by  the  English  Photo  Co.,  Athens.  See  p.  163 

49  THE  TEMPLE  OF  NIKE  APTEROS  (THE  WINGLESS  VICTORY) 

(Fig.  1)  166 
From  a  photograph  by  the  English  Photo  Co.,  Athens.  See  p.  164 

xviii 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

TO  FACE 

T I  ATI  PACE 

49  THE  CARYATID  PORCH  OF  THE  ERECHTHEUM  (Fic.  2)  166 

From  a  photograph.  See  p.  166 

50  THE  "THESEUM,"  ATHENS  170 

From  a  photograph  by  the  English  Photo  Co.,  Athens.  Really  a  temple 
of  Hephaestus.  See  p.  167 

51  THE  "AGIAS"  OF  LYSIPPUS  172 

From  a  photograph  by  the  English  Photo  Co.,  Athens.  A  marble  statue 
recently  discovered  at  Delphi.  It  can  be  identified  as  a  contemporary 
replica  of  a  bronze  by  Lysippus,  and  is  our  only  certain  evidence  of 
his  style.  See  pp.  169  and  218 

52  THE  TEMPLE  OF  APOLLO  AT  PHIGALEIA  [BASS^E]  174 

From  a  photograph  by  the  English  Photo  Co.,  Athens.  See  p.  169 

53  PORTIONS  OF  THE  PHIGALEIAN  FRIEZE  176 

From  photographs  by  Mansell  &  Co.  of  the  originals,  now  in  the 
British  Museum  (Pliigaleian  Room).  See  p.  170 

54  THEATRE  AT  EPIDAURUS  178 

From  a  photograph  by  the  English  Photo  Co.,  Athens.  The  best  extant 
example  of  a  Greek  theatre.  In  the  centre  is  the  circular  orchestra, 
where  the  chorus  danced  and  sang,  and  behind  it  are  relics  of  the  stage- 
buildings.  In  the  centre  of  the  orchestra  was  an  altar  of  Dionysus. 
This  theatre  was  built  about  the  middle  of  the  fourth  century  B.C.  The 
auditorium  would  hold  about  15,000  spectators.  See  p.  175 

55  MONUMENT  OF  LYSICRATES  AT  ATHENS  180 

From  a  photograph  by  Rhomaides.  See  p.  182.  The  whole  monument 
would  form  a  base  for  the  prize  tripod 

56  RED-FIGURED  VASE  AND  PYXIS  182 

Reproduced  from  originals  in  the  British  Museum,  Third  Vase  Room; 
Vase  E  155  ;  Pyxis  D  II  (see  illustration,  p.  45).  The  vase  is  a  fine 
two-handled  kantbaros  of  the  late  fifth  century.  The  background  it 
painted  black  and  the  figures  left  red.  See  p.  191 

The  Pyxis  (lady's  jewel-box)  shows  a  marriage  procession,  drawn  in 
colours  on  a  light  ground.  The  bride  is  being  led  to  the  family  altar, 
preceded  by  a  flute-player.  See  p.  1 91 

57  WHITE  POLYCHROME  VASES  (LECYTHI)  186 

Reproduced  from  originals  in  the  British  Museum,  Third  Vase  Room, 
Vases  D  54  and  D  60  in  Case  F.  Vessels,  specially  painted,  to  contain 
the  oil  used  in  funerals  and  buried  in  the  tomb.  The  youth  in  the 
mourning  robe  is  holding  an  oil-jar  and  gazing  at  the  monument  of  his 
deceased  friend.  Compare  Vase  Plate,  Fig.  4,  and  see  p.  191 

58  ORPHEUS  AND  EURYDICE  [TOMBSTONE  RELIEF]  188 

From  a  photograph  by  Alinari  of  the  original  at  Rome.  See  p.  192 

59  THE  MOURNING  ATHENA  190 

From  a  photograph  by  the  English  Photo  Co.  of  the  original  in  the 
Athens  Museum.  See  p.  193 

xix 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


TO  FACE 
PAGB 


60  TWO   TOMBSTONE    RELIEFS,    FROM   THE  CERAMEIKOS, 

ATHENS  192 
From  photographs  of  originals  in  the  Athens  Museum.  See  p.  193 

61  APOLLO  SAUROCTONOS  (THE  LIZARD-SLAYER)  (Fic.  1)  194 

Reproduced  from  a  photograph  by  Anderson  of  the  original  in  the 
Vatican.   See  p.  217 

THE  CNIDIAN  APHRODITE  (Fig.  2) 

Reproduced  from  a  photograph  by  Mansell  &  Co.  See  p.  214.  This 
Vatican  statue  of  Aphrodite  has  never  been  photographed  in  its  original 
nudity,  but  a  cast  was  made  and  from  it  this  photograph  was  taken 

62  GIRL'S  HEAD  196 

From  a  photograph  by  Bruckmann  of  the  original  at  Munich.  See  p.  214 

63  THE  MARBLE  FAUN,  AFTER  PRAXITELES  (Fig.  i)  198 

From  a  photograph  by  Anderson  of  a  copy  in  the  Capitoline  Gallery, 
Rome.  See  p.  214 

THE  EROS  OF  CENTOCELLE  (Fig.  2) 

From  a  photograph  by  Anderson  of  a  copy  in  the  Vatican.  See  p.  215 

64  HEAD  OF  A  YOUTH  (Fig.  i)  202 

From  a  photograph  by  Brogi  of  the  bronze  at  Naples.  See  p.  215 
WINGED  HEAD  OF  HYPNOS  (SLEEP)  (Fig.  2) 

From  a  photograph  by  Mansell  &  Co.  of  the  original  bronze  in  the 
British  Museum.  See  p.  220 

65  THE  HERMES  OF  PRAXITELES  204 

From  a  photograph  by  the  English  Photo  Co.,  Athens,  of  the  original 
at  Olympia.  See  p.  215 

66  THE  HERMES  OF  PRAXITELES :  HEAD  206 

From  a  photograph  by  the  English  Photo  Co.,  Athens,  of  the  original  at 
Olympia.  Seep.  215 

67  APOLLO  AND  MARSYAS  208 

From  a  photograph  by  the  English  Photo  Co.,  Athens,  of  the  relief 
from  Mantinea.  See  p.  216 

68  MELEAGER  :  HEAD,  AFTER  SCOPAS  210 

From  a  photograph  by  Anderson  of  the  marble  at  Rome.  The  head, 
which  does  not  belong  to  the  body,  has  been  recognised  as  representing 
the  style  of  Scopas  (fourth  century  B.C.).  See  p.  218 

69  THE  DEMETER  OF  CNIDOS  212 

From  a  photograph  by  Mansell  &  Co.  of  the  marble  in  the  British 
Museum.  See  p.  219 

XX 


220 


222 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

"•ATB  TO  FAC  B 

7°  SAT  KPHESUSC°LUMN  FR0M  ™E  TEMPLE  °F  ARTEMIS 
From  a  photograph  by  Mansell  &  Co.  of  the  original  in  the  British 
Museum.    This  belonged  to  the  new  temple  built  after  the  fire  of 

356  B.C.     S^p.  2I9 

71  FIGURE  OF  A  YOUTH.  FROM  CERIGO  2l8 

From  a  photograph  by  the  English  Photo  Co.  of  the  bronze  at  Athens 
See  p.  220 

72  THE  "  LUDOVISI  "  ARES 

From  a  photograph  by  Anderson  of  the  marble  at  Rome.  The  cupid 
between  the  god's  feet  is  certainly  a  later  addition.  See  p.  220 

73  THE  "  RONDANINI  "  MEDUSA  (Fig.  1) 

From  a  photograph  by  Bruckmann  of  the  marble  copy  at  Munich.  The 
original  was  in  bronze.   See  p.  220 

RELIEF  FROM  THE  MAUSOLEUM  (Fig.  2) 

From  a  photograph  by  Mansell  &  Co.  of  the  original  in  the  British 
Museum.  Representing  a  combat  between  Greeks  and  Amazons  See 
p.  222 

74  STATUE  OF  MAUSOLLUS,  FROM  THE  MAUSOLEUM 

As  the  last.  See  p.  222 

75  A  NIOBID 

From  a  photograph  by  Anderson  of  the  recently  discovered  original 
at  Rome.  See  p.  222 

76  COINS  OF  THE  FOURTH  CENTURY  2z8 

Photographed  from  casts  in  the  British  Museum.  See  p  iz< 
Case  III. 

1  Gold  Stater  of  Rhodes,  A  37 

Obverse  :  Head  of  the  Sun-god.  Reverse  :  A  rose 

2  Athenian  Gold  Stater,  B  30 

Obverse :  Head  of  Athena.  Reverse  :  Owl  and  olive-branch 

3  Gold  Stater  of  Panticap^um,  B  2 

Obverse  :  Head  of  Pan.   Reverse  :  Gryphon  and  barley  (the  latter 
typifying  the  corn  trade) 

4  Silver  Tetradrachm  of  Tenedos,  A  20 

Obverse:   Janiform  head.    Reverse:    Double  axe  and  bee  in  a 
wreath 

5  Sicilian  Decadrachm,  C  29 

Obverse :  Head  of  Arethusa  or  Persephone.   Reverse :  Four-horse 
chariot  with  Victory  above  and  armour  below 

77  GREEK  GEMS  2jo 

From  photographs  by  Mansell  &  Co.  of  gems  in  the  British  Museum. 
See  p.  225 


224 
226 


1  A  Quoit-thrower  or  Hyacinthus  ;  probably  fourth  century  b.c. 

2  A  Wounded  Warrior 


XXI 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

TO  FACB 

plate  page 

3  Harper  (compare  PI.  32).   Fine  work  of  the  fifth  century,  cornelian 

intaglio 

4  Drunken  Satyr,  agate  scarab 

5  Homeric  Scene.    ?  fifth  century 

6  Ideal  Head  in  the  Garb  of  Heracles  ;  late  work 

78  ATHLETES  BOXING.   FROM  A  PANATHENAIC  AMPHORA  232 

Drawn  from  Vase  B  607  in  the  Fourth  Vase  Room,  British  Museum. 
It  is  inscribed  with  the  name  of  the  Archon  Pythodelos,  giving  the 
date  336  B.C.  The  figures  are  in  black,  but  this  is  a  survival  from  the 
earlier  style.   See  p.  224 

79  CORINTHIAN  CAPITAL  234 

From  a  photograph  by  Mansell  &  Co.  of  the  originals  in  the  British 
Museum.  See  p.  226 

80  FIVE  TANAGRA  STATUETTES  236 

From  photographs  by  Mansell  &  Co.  of  originals  in  the  British  Museum. 
See  p.  227 

81  BUST  OF  "  SOCRATES  "  238 

From  a  photograph  by  Mansell  &  Co.  Not  an  authentic  portrait  but  a 
later  attempt  to  express  the  rugged  exterior  of  the  sage  which  is  often 
a  subject  of  humorous  allusion  in  Plato  and  elsewhere.  See  p.  231 

82  ALEXANDER  AT  ISSUS.  240 

Reproduced  from  a  photograph  by  Brogi  of  the  mosaic  at  Pompeii. 
See  p.  245 

83  "THE  SARCOPHAGUS  OF  ALEXANDER"  FROM  SIDON  :  LION- 

HUNT  242 
From  a  photograph  by  Seban  and  Joaillier  of  the  original  at  Con- 
stantinople. See  p.  246 

84  ALEXANDER  THE  GREAT  244 

From  a  photograph  by  Mansell  &  Co.  of  the  bust  in  the  British  Museum. 
See  p.  246 

85  RELIEF  FROM  PERGAMUM  246 

Reproduced  from  a  photograph  by  Titzenthaler  of  the  original  at 
Berlin.  This  is  a  clever  reconstruction  of  the  great  altar  of  Zeus  erected 
by  the  Attalids  near  the  beginning  of  the  second  century  b.c.  The 
subject  is  the  combat  between  gods  and  giants.  See  p.  251 

86  PORTION  OF  THE  EASTERN  FRIEZE  OF  THE  SARCOPHAGUS 

OF  ALEXANDER  248 
Reproduced  in  colour  from  Plate  XXXV  in  "  Une  Necropole  Royale  a 
Sidon,"  by  MM.  O.  Hamdy  Bey  and  Th.  Reinach,  by  kind  permission 
of  M.  Ernest  Leroux,  of  Paris.  See  p.  246 

87  APHRODITE  OF  MELOS  (THE  VENUS  OF  MILO)  250 

From  a  photograph  by  Alinari  of  the  marble  in  the  Louvre.  See  p.  251 

xxii 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

TO  PACl 

PLATE  PAGI 

88  THE  VICTORY  OF  SAMOTHRACE  252 

From  a  photograph  by  Alinari  of  the  marble  in  the  Louvre.  See  p.  252 

89  STATUE  OF  "ARISTOTLE"  254 

From  a  photograph  by  Anderson  of  the  original  in  the  Palazzo  Spada, 
Rome.  An  ideal  conception  of  a  philosopher  rather  than  an  authentic 
portrait.  See  p.  253 

90  THE  PORTLAND  VASE  256 

From  a  photograph  by  Mansell  &  Co.  of  the  original  in  the  British 
Museum.  No  certain  interpretation  of  the  figures  has  been  made.  See 
p.  263 

91  THE  FARNESE  BULL  262 

From  a  photograph  by  Brogi  of  the  original  at  Naples.  Depicts  how 
Zethus  and  Amphion  punished  their  stepmother,  Dirce  :  a  degenerate 
work  by  two  sculptors  of  the  Rhodian  school  in  the  first  or  second 
century  b.c.  See  p.  265 

THE  PRAYING  BOY  166 
From  a  photograph  by  Mnnscll  &  Co.  of  the  cast  in  the  British  Museum. 
Original  bronze  at  Berlin.    See  p.  220 


ILLUSTRATIONS  IN  THE  TEXT 


TABLET  OF  CRETAN  LINEAR  SCRIPT,  FROM  CNOSSOS  13 
From  the  Annual  of  the  British  School  at  Athens,  vi.  plate  ii 

BLACK  VASE,  FROM  CYPRUS  18 
British  Museum,  First  Vase  Room,  Case  7,  C  81 

PLAN  OF  NEOLITHIC  HOUSE  18 

TERRA  COTTA  FIGURE,  FROM  PETSOFA  »o 
From  the  Annual  of  the  B.S.A.,  ix.  plate  x 

TERRA  COTTA  IDOL,  FROM  TROY  20 
British  Museum,  Terra-cotta  Room,  Case  I,  A  38 

VOTIVE  TERRA  COTTA,  FROM  PETSOFA.  21 
From  the  Annual  of  the  B.S.A.,  ix.  plate  viii 

KAMARES  CUP  22 
From  the  Annual  of  the  B.S.A.,  ix.  p.  305 

KAMARES  "  HOLE-MOUTHED  "  JAR  «2 
From  the  Annual  of  the  B.S.A.,  ix.  p.  306 

CRETAN  FILLER  *4 
From  the  Annual  of  the  B.S.A.,  ix.  p.  31 T 

c  xxiii 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


FAGB 


CUTTLE-FISH  KYLIX  25 
British  Museum,  First  Vase  Room,  Case  19 

CLAY  SEAL  IMPRESSION  :  PUGILIST  25 
From  the  Annual  of  the  B.S.A.,  ix.  p.  56 

CITADEL  OF  TIRYNS  27 
After  Schliemann's  reconstruction ;  from  his  "  Tiryns,"  by  kind  permission 
of  Mr.  John  Murray 

BEEHIVE  TOMB  :  SECTION  29 

CRETAN  CUP  OF  DEGENERATE  STYLE  31 
From  the  Annual  of  the  B.S.A.,  ix.  p.  318 

CLAY  SEAL  IMPRESSION,  CRUCIFORM  SYMBOL  34 
From  the  Annual  of  the  B.S.A.,  ix.  p.  90 

WARRIOR  STELE  FROM  MYCEN^  37 
From  Ridgeway's  "  Early  Age  of  Greece,"  i.  p.  314,  by  kind  permission  of 
the  Cambridge  University  Press.  An  early  representation  of  the  arms  and 
dress  of  the  Northern  Invaders 

MARRIAGE  PROCESSION  45 
From  a  pyxis  in  the  British  Museum,  Third  Vase  Room,  Case  C,  D  11 
{see  Plate  56) 

SEATED  STATUE  FROM  BRANCHID^  55 
British  Museum,  Room  of  Archaic  Sculpture,  No.  9 

GEOMETRIC  VASE  5 
British  Museum,  First  Vase  Room,  Case  34,  No.  362 

COIN  OF  CROTON,  SHOWING  TRIPOD  63 
British  Museum,  Room  of  Greek  and  Roman  Life,  III.  19 

SHIP  OF  ODYSSEUS  64 
From  a  vase  in  the  British  Museum,  Third  Vase  Room,  Case  G,  E  440 

LYRE  AND  CITHARA  68 
From  vases,  &c. 

THE  "  DISCOBOLUS  "  OF  MYRON  80 
Outline  drawing  of  the  statue  in  the  British  Museum 

COIN  OF  CORINTH  105 
British  Museum,  Room  of  Greek  and  Roman  Life,  II.  B  25.  Obverse  : 
Head  of  Athena  wearing  a  Corinthian  helmet.  Reverse  :  Pegasus 

GREEK  ARCHITECTURE  107 
Diagram  illustrating  Doric  and  Ionic  styles 

COIN  OF  PHANES  123 

British  Museum,  Room  of  Greek  and  Roman  Life,  I.  A  7 
xxiv 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


FACE 

OSTRAKON  OF  THEMISTOCLES  141 

COIN  OF  ELIS :  HEAD  OF  ZEUS  148 
Britiih  Museum,  Room  of  Greek  and  Roman  Life,  III.  B  33 

COIN  OF  PHILIP  H.  OF  MACEDON  :  HEAD  OF  ZEUS  [48 
Britiih  Museum,  as  above,  III.  B  18 

THE  ERECHTHEUM  :  MODERN  RECONSTRUCTION  16G 

THEATRICAL  FIGURES,  COMIC  AND  TRAGIC  175 
From  statuettes  in  the  British  Museum 

COIN  OF  THRACE  :  ALEXANDER  THE  GREAT  246 
British  Museum,  Room  of  Greek  and  Roman  Life,  IV.  B  20.  Showing 
Alexander  as  a  god  with  the  horns  of  Ammon 

THE  LAOCOON  GROUP  264 
Drawn  from  a  photograph  of  the  original  at  Rome 

LATE  GREEK  VASE  PAINTING  266 
Britiih  Muieum,  Vase  Room,  IV.  Case  £2,  F  308 


INTRODUCTION 


al  8e  Tfal  £iiiovo~iv  drjUovts  fjo~tv  6  ndvruv 
ipnaKTTip  'AiBijr  ovk  in\  X*'Pa  $aXcI. 

Callimachus. 
"  Still  are  thy  pleasant  voices,  thy  nightingales,  awake, 
For  Death,  he  taketh  all  away,  but  them  he  cannot  take.' 

Hellenism 
REECE  "and  "Greek"  mean  different 
things  to  different  people.  To  the 
man  in  the  street,  if  he  exists,  they 
stand  for  something  proverbially  re- 
mote and  obscure,  as  dead  as  Queen 
Anne,  as  heavy  as  the  British  Museum. 
To  the  average  finished  product  of 
Higher  Education  in  England  they 
recall  those  dog-eared  text-books  and 
grammars  which  he  put  away  with 
much  relief  when  he  left  school ;  they  waft  back  to  him 
the  strangely  close  atmosphere  of  the  classical  form-room. 
The  historian,  of  course,  will  inform  us  that  all  Western 
civilisation  has  Greece  for  its  mother  and  nurse,  and  that 
unless  we  know  something  about  her  our  knowledge  of  the 
past  must  be  built  upon  sand.  That  is  true :  only  nobody 
cares  very  much  what  historians  say,  for  they  deal  with 
the  past,  and  the  past  is  dead  and  disgusting.  To  some 
cultured  folk  who  have  read  Swinburne  (but  not  Plato) 
the  notion  of  the  Greeks  presents  a  world  of  happy  pagans, 
children  of  nature,  without  any  tiresome  ideas  of  morality  or 
self-control,  sometimes  making  pretty  poems  and  statues,  but 
generally  basking  in  the  sun  without  much  on.    There  are  also 

A 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
countless  earnest  students  of  the  Bible  who  remember  what 
St.  Paul  said  about  those  Greeks  who  thought  the  Cross 
foolishness  and  those  Athenians  who  were  always  wanting 
to  hear  something  new.     Yet,  in  a  sense,  "the  Cross" 
was  a  typical  Stoic  paradox.    Then  there  are  a  vast  number 
of  people  who  do  not  distinguish  between  "  Greek "  and 
"  classical."    By  "  classics  "  they  understand  certain  tyrannous 
conventions  and  stilted  affectations  against  which  every  free- 
minded  soul  longs  to  rebel.    They  distinguish  the  classical 
element  in  Milton  and  Keats  as  responsible  for  all  that  is 
dull  and  far-fetched  and  unnatural.    Classicism  repels  many 
people  of  excellent  taste,  and  Greek  art  is  apt  to  fall  under 
the  same  condemnation.    It  is  only  in  the  last  generation 
that  scholars  have  been  able  to  distinguish  between  the  true 
Greek  and  the  false  mist  of  classicism  which  surrounds  it. 
Till  then  everybody  had  to  look  at  the  Greeks  through 
Roman  and  Renaissance  spectacles,  confounding  Pallas  with 
Minerva  and  thinking  of  Greek  art  as  represented  by  the 
Apollo  Belvedere  and  the  Laocoon.    We  are  now  able, 
thanks  to  the  labours  of  scholars  and  archaeologists,  to  see 
the  Greeks  as  they  were,  perfectly  direct,  simple,  natural,  and 
reasonable,  quite  as  antagonistic  to  classicism  as  Manet  and 
Debussy  themselves. 

Lastly,  there  are  a  few  elderly  people  who  have  survived 
the  atmosphere  of  "  the  classics,"  and  yet  cherish  the  idea  of 
Greece  as  something  almost  holy  in  its  tremendous  power  of 
inspiration.  These  are  the  people  who  are  actually  pleased 
when  a  fragment  of  Menander  is  unearthed  in  an  Egyptian 
rubbish-heap,  or  a  fisherman  fishing  for  sponges  off  Cape 
Matapan  finds  entangled  in  his  net  three-quarters  of  a 
bronze  idol.  And  they  are  not  all  schoolmasters  either. 
Some  of  them  spend  their  time  and  money  in  digging  the 
soil  of  Greece  under  a  blazing  Mediterranean  sun.  Some  of 
them  haunt  the  auction-rooms  and  run  up  a  fragment  of 
pottery,  or  a  marble  head  without  a  nose,  to  figures  that  seem 
quite  absurd  when  you  look  at  the  shabby  clothes  of  the 

2 


INTRODUCTION 

bidders.  They  talk  of  Greece  as  if  it  were  in  the  same 
latitude  as  Heaven,  not  Naples.  The  strange  thing  about 
them  is  that  though  they  evidently  feel  the  love  of  old  Greece 
burning  like  a  flame  in  their  hearts,  they  find  their  ideas  on 
the  subject  quite  incommunicable.  Let  us  hope  they  end 
their  days  peacefully  in  retreats  with  classical  fagades,  like 
the  Bethlehem  Hospital. 

Admitting  something  of  this  weakness,  it  is  my  aim  here 
to  try  and  throw  some  fresh  light  upon  the  secret  of  that 
people's  greatness,  and  to  look  at  the  Greeks  not  as  the 
defunct  producers  of  antique  curios,  but,  if  I  can,  as  Keats 
looked  at  them,  believing  what  he  said  of  Beauty,  that 

"  It  will  never 
Pass  into  nothingness,  but  still  will  keep 
A  bower  quiet  for  us,  and  a  sleep 

Full  of  sweet  dreams,  and  health,  and  quiet  breathing." 

It  cannot  be  done  by  studying  their  history  only.  Their 
history  must  be  full  of  battles,  in  which  they  were  only 
moderately  great,  and  petty  quarrels,  to  which  they  were 
immoderately  prone.  Their  literature,  which  presents  the 
greatest  bulk  of  varied  excellence  of  any  literature  in  the 
world,  must  be  considered.  But  as  it  can  only  reach  us 
through  the  watery  medium  of  translation  we  must  supplement 
it  by  studying  also  their  statues  and  temples,  their  coins, 
vases,  and  pictures.  Even  that  will  not  be  sufficient  for 
people  who  are  not  artists,  because  the  sensible  Philistine 
part  of  the  world  knows,  as  the  Greeks  knew,  that  a  man 
may  draw  and  fiddle  and  be  a  scoundrel.  Therefore  we  must 
look  also  at  their  laws  and  governments,  their  ceremonies  and 
amusements,  their  philosophy  and  religion,  to  see  whether  they 
knew  how  to  live  like  gentlemen  and  freemen.  If  we  can 
keep  our  eyes  open  to  all  these  sides  of  their  activity  and 
watch  them  in  the  germ  and  bud,  we  ought  to  get  near  to 
understanding  their  power  as  a  living  source  of  inspiration 
to  artists  and  thinkers.  Lovers  of  the  classics  are  very  apt  to 
remind  us  of  the  Renaissance  as  testifying  the  power  of  Greek 

3 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

thought  to  awaken  and  inspire  men's  minds.  Historically 
they  are  right,  for  it  is  a  fact  which  ought  to  be  emphasised. 
But  when  they  go  on  to  argue  that  if  we  forget  the  classics 
we  ourselves  shall  need  a  fresh  Renaissance  they  are  making 
a  prophecy  which  seems  to  me  to  be  very  doubtful.  I  believe 
that  our  art  and  literature  has  by  this  time  absorbed  and 
assimilated  what  Greece  had  to  teach,  and  that  our  roots  are 
so  entwined  with  the  soil  of  Greek  culture  that  we  can  never 
lose  the  taste  of  it  as  long  as  books  are  read  and  pictures 
painted.  We  are,  in  fact,  living  on  the  legacy  of  Greece,  and 
we  may,  if  we  please,  forget  the  testatrix. 

My  claim  for  the  study  of  Hellenism  would  not  be 
founded  on  history.  I  would  urge  the  need  of  constant 
reference  to  some  fixed  canon  in  matters  of  taste,  some 
standard  of  the  beautiful  which  shall  be  beyond  question 
or  criticism ;  all  the  more  because  we  are  living-  in 
eager,  restless  times  of  constant  experiment  and  veering 
fashions.  Whatever  may  be  the  philosophical  basis  of 
aesthetics,  it  is  undeniable  that  a  large  part  of  our  idea  of 
beauty  rests  upon  habit.  Hellas  provides  a  thousand  objects 
which  seventy-five  generations  of  people  have  agreed  to  call 
beautiful  and  which  no  person  outside  a  madhouse  has  ever 
thought  ugly.  The  proper  use  of  true  classics  is  not  to 
regard  them  as  fetishes  which  must  be  slavishly  worshipped, 
as  the  French  dramatists  worshipped  the  imaginary  unities 
of  Aristotle,  but  to  keep  them  for  a  compass  in  the  cross- 
currents of  fashion.  By  them  you  may  know  what  is 
permanent  and  essential  from  what  is  showy  and  exciting. 

That  Greek  work  is  peculiarly  suited  to  this  purpose  is 
partly  due,  no  doubt,  to  the  winnowing  of  centuries  of  time, 
but  partly  also  to  its  own  intrinsic  qualities.  For  one  thing, 
all  the  best  Greek  work  was  done,  not  to  please  private 
tastes,  but  in  a  serious  spirit  of  religion  to  honour  the  god  of 
the  city ;  that  prevents  it  from  being  trivial  or  meretricious. 
Secondly,  it  is  not  romantic ;  and  that  renders  it  a  very 
desirable  antidote  to  modern  extravagances.  Thirdly,  it  is 
4 


INTRODUCTION 

idealistic ;  that  gives  it  a  force  and  permanence  which 
things  designed  only  for  the  pleasure  of  the  moment  must 
generally  lack.  With  all  these  high  merits,  it  might  remain 
very  dull,  if  it  had  not  the  charm  and  grace  of  youth  perfectly 
fearless,  and  serving  a  religion  which  largely  consisted  in 
health  and  beauty. 

The  Land  and  its  People 

A  glance  at  the  physical  map  of  Greece  shows  you  the  sort 
of  country  which  forms  the  setting  of  our  picture.  You  see 
its  long  and  complicated  coast-line,  its  intricate  system  of 
rugged  hills,  and  the  broken  strings  of  islands  which  they 
fling  off  into  the  sea  in  every  direction.  On  the  map  it  recalls 
the  features  of  Scotland  or  Norway.  It  hangs  like  a  jewel 
on  a  pendant  from  the  south  of  Europe  into  the  Mediter- 
ranean Sea.  Like  its  sister  peninsulas  of  Italy  and  Spain  it 
has  high  mountains  to  the  north  of  it ;  but  the  Balkans  do  not, 
as  do  the  Alps  and  Pyrenees,  present  the  form  of  a  sheer 
rampart  against  Northern  invaders.  On  the  contrary,  the 
main  axis  of  the  hills  lies  in  the  same  direction  as  the 
peninsula  itself,  with  a  north-west  and  south-east  trend,  so  that 
on  both  coasts  there  are  ancient  trade  routes  into  the  country  ; 
but  on  both  sides  they  have  to  traverse  passes  which  offer  a 
fair  chance  of  easy  defence. 

The  historian,  wise  after  the  event,  deduces  that  the 
history  of  such  a  country  must  lie  upon  the  sea.  It  is  a 
sheltered,  hospitable  sea,  with  chains  of  islands  like  stepping- 
stones  inviting  the  timid  mariner  of  early  times  to  venture 
across  it.  You  can  sail  from  Greece  to  Asia  without  ever 
losing:  sieht  of  land.  On  the  west  it  is  not  so.  Greece  and 
Italy  turn  their  backs  upon  one  another.  Their  neighbouring 
coasts  are  the  harbourless  ones.  So  Greece  looks  east  and 
Italy  west,  in  history  as  well  as  geography.  The  natural 
affinities  of  Greece  are  with  Asia  Minor  and  Egypt. 

A  sea-going  people  will  be  an  adventurous  people  in 
thought  as  well  as  action.     The  Greeks  themselves  fully 

5 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
realised  this.  When  Themistocles  was  urging  his  fellow- 
Athenians  to  build  a  great  fleet  and  take  to  the  sea  in 
earnest,  opposition  came  from  the  conservatives,  who  feared 
the  political  influence  of  a  "  nautical  mob  "with  radical  and 
impious  tendencies.  The  type  of  solid  conservative  was  the 
heavy-armed  land  soldier.  So  in  Greek  history  the  inland 
city  of  Sparta  stands  for  tradition,  discipline,  and  stability, 
while  the  mariners  of  Athens  are  progressive,  turbulent, 
inquiring  idealists. 

This  sea  will  also  invite  commerce  if  the  Greeks  have 
anything  to  sell.  It  does  not  look  as  if  they  will  have  much. 
A  few  valleys  and  small  plains  are  fertile  enough  to  feed  their 
own  proprietors,  but  as  regards  corn  and  food-stuffs  Greece 
will  have  to  be  an  importer,  not  an  exporter.  In  history  we 
find  great  issues  hanging  on  the  sea-routes  by  which  corn 
came  in  from  the  Black  Sea.  Wine  and  olive  oil  are  the  only 
things  that  Nature  allowed  Greece  to  export.  As  for  minerals, 
Athens  is  rich  in  her  silver-mines,  and  gold  is  to  be  found  in 
Thrace  under  Mount  Pangseus.  But  if  Greece  is  to  grow  rich 
it  will  have  to  be  through  the  skill  of  her  incomparable  crafts- 
men and  the  shield  and  spear  of  her  hoplites.* 

The  map  will  help  to  explain  another  feature  of  her 
history.  Although  at  first  sight  the  peninsula  looks  as  if  it 
possessed  a  geographical  unity,  yet  a  second  glance  shows 
that  Nature  has  split  it  up  into  numberless  small  plains  and 
valleys  divided  from  one  another  by  sea  and  mountain.  Such 
a  country,  as  we  see  in  Wales,  Switzerland,  and  Scotland, 
encourages  a  polity  of  clans  and  cantons,  each  jealous  of  its 
neighbour  over  the  hill,  and  each  cherishing  a  fierce  local 
patriotism.  Nature,  moreover,  has  provided  each  plain  with 
its  natural  citadel.  Greece  and  Italy  are  both  rich  in  these 
self-made  fortresses.  The  traveller  in  Italy  is  familiar  with 
the  low  hills  or  spurs  of  mountains,  each  crowned  with  the 
white  walls  of  some  ancient  city.    If  ever  geography  made 

•  This  and  similar  technical  terms  are  explained  in  the  Glossary  at  the  end 
of  the  book. 

6 


Kl<;.  2.    THE  CITADEL  OK  Corinth    (Sec  p.  7) 

Plate  i  [/>.  6 


INTRODUCTION 

history,  it  was  where  those  flat-topped  hills  with  precipitous 
sides,  such  as  the  Acropolis  of  Athens  and  Acrocorinthus,* 
invited  man  to  build  his  fortress  and  his  shrine  upon  their 
summit.  Then,  perched  safely  on  the  hill-top  and  ringed 
with  her  wall,  the  city  was  able  to  develop  her  peculiar 
civilisation  even  in  troubled  times  while  the  rest  of  the  world 
was  still  immersed  in  warfare  and  barbarism.  The  farmer 
spends  the  summer  in  the  plain  below  for  sowing  and  reaping, 
the  mariner  puts  out  from  harbour,  the  soldier  marches  out 
for  a  summer  campaign,  but  the  city  is  their  home,  their 
refuge,  and  the  centre  of  their  patriotism.  We  must  not 
overrate  the  importance  of  this  natural  cause.  Even  the 
plains  of  Greece,  such  as  Thessaly  and  Bceotia,  never  de- 
veloped a  unity.  There  too  the  citadel  and  the  city-state 
prevailed.  Geography  is  seldom  more  than  a  contributory 
cause,  shaping  and  assisting  historical  tendencies,  but  in  this 
case  it  is  impossible  to  resist  the  belief  that  in  Italy  and 
Greece  the  hill-top  invited  the  wall  and  the  wall  enabled  the 
civilisation  of  the  city-state  to  rise  and  flourish  long  in  advance 
of  the  rest  of  Europe. 

Greece  enjoys  a  wonderful  climate.  The  summer  sun  is 
hot,  but  morning  and  evening  bring  refreshing  breezes  from 
the  sea.  The  rain  average  is  low  and  regular,  snow  is 
almost  unknown  in  the  valleys.  Hence  there  is  a  peculiar 
dry  brightness  in  the  atmosphere  which  seems  to  annihilate 
distance.  The  traveller  is  struck  with  the  small  scale  of  Greek 
geography.  The  Corinthian  Gulf,  for  instance,  which  he 
remembers  to  have  been  the  scene  of  famous  sea-battles  in 
history,  looks  as  if  one  could  throw  a  stone  across  it.  From 
your  hotel  window  in  Athens  you  can  see  hill-tops  in  the  heart 
of  the  Peloponnese.  Doubtless  this  clearness  of  the  atmo- 
sphere encouraged  the  use  of  colour  and  the  plastic  arts  for 
outdoor  decoration.  Even  to-day  the  ruined  buildings  of  the 
Athenian  citadel  shine  across  to  the  eyes  of  the  seafarers 
five  miles  away  at  the  Peiraeus.    Time  has  mellowed  their 

•  Plate  i,  Figs,  i  and  a. 

7 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

marble  columns  to  a  rich  amber,  but  in  old  days  they  blazed 
with  colour  and  gilding.  In  that  radiant  sea-air  the  Greeks 
of  old  learnt  to  see  things  clearly.  They  could  live,  as  the 
Greeks  still  live,  a  simple,  temperate  life.  Wine  and  bread, 
with  a  relish  of  olives  or  pickled  fish,  satisfied  the  bodily  needs 
of  the  richest.  The  climate  invited  an  open-air  life,  as  it 
still  does.  To-day,  as  of  old,  the  Greek  loves  to  meet  his 
neighbours  in  the  market  square  and  talk  eternally  over  all 
things  both  in  heaven  and  earth.  Though  the  blood  of 
Greece  has  suffered  many  admixtures,  and  though  Greece 
has  had  to  submit  to  centuries  of  conquest  by  many  masters 
and  oppressors,  her  racial  character  is  little  changed  in  some 
respects.  The  Greek  is  still  restless,  talkative,  subtle  and 
inquisitive,  eager  for  liberty  without  the  sense  of  discipline 
which  liberty  requires,  contemptuous  of  strangers  and  jealous 
of  his  neighbour.  In  commerce,  when  he  has  the  chance, 
his  quick  and  supple  brain  still  makes  him  the  prince  of 
traders.  Honesty  and  stability  have  always  been  qualities 
which  he  is  quicker  to  admire  than  to  practise.  Courage, 
national  pride,  intellectual  self-restraint,  and  creative  genius 
had  undoubtedly  suffered  under  the  Turkish  domination. 
But  two  generations  of  liberty  have  already  done  much  to 
restore  those  qualities  which  were  so  eminent  in  her  ancestors, 
and  the  friends  of  modern  Greece  believe  that  her  future 
may  rival  her  past,  even  in  the  field  of  action.  We  must 
never  forget,  when  we  praise  the  artistic  and  intellectual 
genius  of  Greece,  that  she  alone  rolled  back  the  tide  of  Per- 
sian conquest  at  Marathon  and  Salamis,  or  that  Greek  troops 
under  Alexander  marched  victoriously  over  half  the  known 
world.  But  it  is  not  in  the  field  of  action  that  her  real  great- 
ness lies.  She  won  battles  by  superior  discipline,  superior 
strategy,  and  superior  armour.  As  soon  as  she  had  to 
meet  a  race  of  born  soldiers,  in  the  Romans,  she  easily 
succumbed.  Her  methods  of  fighting  were  always  defensive 
in  the  main.  Historians  have  often  gone  astray  in  devoting 
too  much  attention  to  her  wars  and  battles. 
8 


INTRODUCTION 

The  great  defect  of  the  climate  of  modern  Greece  is 
the  malaria  which  haunts  her  plains  and  lowlands  in  early 
autumn.  This  is  partly  the  effect  and  partly  the  cause  of 
undrained  and  sparsely  populated  marsh-lands  like  those  of 
Bceotia.  It  need  not  have  been  so  in  early  Greek  history. 
There  must  have  been  more  agriculture  and  more  trees  in 
ancient  than  in  modern  Greece.  An  interesting  and  ingenious 
theory  has  lately  been  advanced  which  would  trace  the  begin- 
ning of  malaria  in  Greece  to  the  fourth  century.  Its  effect  is 
seen  in  the  loss  of  vigour  which  begins  in  that  period  and  the 
rapid  shrinkage  of  population  which  marks  the  beginning  of 
the  downfall  in  that  and  the  succeeding  century.  In  Italy  the 
same  theory  has  even  better  attestation,  for  the  Roman  Cam- 
pagna  which  to-day  lies  desolate  and  fever-stricken  was  once 
the  site  of  populous  cities  and  the  scene  of  agricultural  activity. 

The  scenery  of  Greece  is  singularly  impressive.  Folded 
away  among  the  hills  there  are,  indeed,  some  lovely  wooded 
valleys,*  like  Tempe,  but  in  general  it  is  a  treeless  country,  and 
the  eye  enjoys,  in  summer  at  least,  a  pure  harmony  of  brown 
hills  with  deep  blue  sea  and  sky.  The  sea  is  indigo,  almost 
purple,  and  the  traveller  quickly  sees  the  justice  of  Homer's 
epithet  of  "  wine-dark."  Those  brown  hills  make  a  lovely 
background  for  the  play  of  light  and  shade.  Dawn  and 
sunset  touch  them  with  warmer  colours,  and  the  plain  of 
Attica  is  seen  "violet-crowned"  by  the  famous  heights  of 
Hymettus,  Pentelicus,  and  Parnes.  The  ancient  Greek 
talked  little  of  scenery,  but  he  saw  a  nereid  in  every  pool, 
a  dryad  under  every  oak,  and  heard  the  pipe  of  Pan  in  the 
caves  of  his  limestone  hills.  He  placed  the  choir  of  Muses 
on  Mount  Helicon,  and,  looking  up  to  the  snowy  summit  of 
Olympus,  he  peopled  it  with  calm,  benignant  deities. 

In  this  beautiful  land  lived  the  happy  and  glorious  people 
whose  culture  we  are  now  to  study.  Some  modernists, 
indeed,  smitten  with  the  megalomania  of  to-day,  profess  to 
despise  a  history  written  on  so  small  a  scale.   Truly  Athens 

•  Plates  2  aud  3. 

9 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
was  a  small  state  at  the  largest.  Her  little  empire  had  a 
yearly  revenue  of  about  .£100,000.  It  is  doubtful  whether 
Sparta  ever  had  much  more  than  ten  thousand  free  citizens. 
In  military  matters,  it  must  be  confessed,  the  importance 
attached  by  historians  to  miniature  fleets  and  pigmy  armies^ 
with  a  ridiculously  small  casualty  list,  does  strike  the  reader 
with  a  sense  of  disproportion.  But  for  the  politician  it  is 
especially  instructive  to  see  his  problems  worked  out  upon 
a  small  scale,  with  the  issues  comparatively  simple  and  the 
results  plainly  visible.  The  task  of  combining  liberty  with 
order  is  in  essentials  the  same  for  a  state  of  ten  thousand 
citizens  as  for  one  of  forty  millions.  And  in  the  realms  of 
philosophy  and  art  considerations  of  size  do  not  affect  us,  except 
to  make  us  marvel  that  these  tiny  states  could  do  so  much. 

To  a  great  extent  we  may  find  the  key  to  the  Greek 
character  in  her  favourite  proverb,  "  No  excess,"  in  which 
are  expressed  her  favourite  virtues  of  Aidds  and  Sophrosund, 
reverence  and  self-restraint.  "Know  thvself"  was  the  motto 
inscribed  over  her  principal  shrine.  Know  and  rely  upon 
thine  own  powers,  know  and  regard  thine  own  limitations. 
It  was  such  a  maxim  as  this  which  enabled  the  Greeks 
to  reach  their  goal  of  perfection  even  in  the  sphere  of  art, 
where  perfection  is  proverbially  impossible.  They  were  bold 
in  prospecting  and  experimenting,  until  they  found  what  they 
deemed  to  be  the  right  way,  and  when  they  had  found  it 
they  followed  it  through  to  its  conclusion.  Eccentricity  they 
hated  like  poison.  Though  they  were  such  great  originators, 
they  cared  nothing  for  the  modern  fetish  of  originality. 

In  politics  also  they  looked  for  a  definite  goal  and  travelled 
courageously  along  to  find  it.  Herein  they  met  with  disastrous 
failures  which  are  full  of  teaching  for  us.  But  they  reached, 
it  may  be  said,  the  utmost  possibility  of  the  city-state.  The 
city-state  was,  as  we  have  seen,  probably  evolved  by  natural 
survival  from  the  physical  conditions  of  the  country.  Being 
established,  it  entailed  certain  definite  consequences.  It 
involved  a  much  closer  bond  of  social  union  than  any  modern 
10 


INTRODUCTION 
territorial  state.  Its  citizens  felt  the  unity  and  exclusiveness 
of  a  club  or  school.  A  much  larger  share  of  public  rights  and 
duties  naturally  fell  upon  them.  They  looked  upon  their  city  as 
a  company  of  unlimited  liability  in  which  each  individual  citizen 
was  a  shareholder.  They  expected  their  city  to  feed  and 
amuse  them.  They  expected  to  divide  the  plunder  when  she 
made  conquests,  as  they  were  certain  to  share  the  consequences 
if  she  was  defeated.  Every  full  citizen  of  proper  age  was 
naturally  bound  to  fight  personally  in  the  ranks,  and  from 
that  duty  his  rights  as  a  citizen  followed  logically.  He  must 
naturally  be  consulted  about  peace  and  war,  and  must  have  a 
voice  in  foreign  policy.  Also,  if  he  was  to  be  a  competent 
soldier  he  had  to  undergo  proper  education  and  training  for 
it.  There  would  be  little  privacy  inside  the  walls  of  a  city- 
state  ;  the  arts  and  crafts  were  under  public  patronage. 
Inequalities  would  become  hatefully  apparent. 

But  for  us,  an  imperial  people,  who  have  inherited  a  vast 
and  scattered  dominion  which  somehow  or  other  has  got  to 
be  managed  and  governed,  the  chief  interest  will  centre  in  the 
question  of  how  these  city-states  acquired  and  administered 
their  empires.  Above  all  it  is  to  Athens  and  perhaps  Rome 
alone  that  we  can  look  for  historical  answers  to  the  great 
riddle  for  which  we  cannot  yet  boast  of  having  discovered  a 
solution — whether  democracy  can  govern  an  empire. 

In  Greek  history  alone  we  have  at  least  three  examples  of 
empires.  Athens  and  Sparta  both  proceeded  to  acquire 
empire  by  the  road  of  alliance  and  hegemony,  Athens  being 
naval  and  democratic,  Sparta  aristocratic  and  military.  Both 
were  despotic,  and  both  failed  disastrously  for  different  reasons. 
Then  we  have  the  career  of  Alexander  the  Great  and  his 
short-lived  but  important  empire,  a  career  providing  a  type  for 
Caesar  and  Napoleon,  an  empire  founded  on  mere  conquest. 

Lastly,  on  the  same  small  canvas  we  have  a  momentous 
phase  of  the  eternal  and  still-continuing  conflict  between  East 
and  West  and  their  respective  habits  of  civilisation.  These 
pages  will  describe  the  aggression  and  repulse  of  the  East. 

1 1 


I 


AEGEAN  CIVILISATION 

Vixere  fortes  ante  Agamemnona. 

Horace. 

A  New  Chapter  of  History 
T  is  the  misfortune  of  historians  to 
be  liable  to  attacks  at  both  extre- 
mities. On  the  one  hand  Time  is 
continually  adding  postscripts  to  their 
"  Finis,"  and  on  the  other  hand  the 
archaeologist  is  constantly  making 
them  tear  up  and  rewrite  their  first 
chapters.  In  Greek  history  especially 
the  spade  has  proved  mightier  than 
the  pen.  We  are  now  only  certain 
that  the  first  page  of  any  Greek  history  written  ten  years 
ago  must  be  defective ;  we  are  not  yet  quite  sure  what  to  put 
in  its  place.  Any  moment,  it  seems,  the  explorer  may  turn 
up  something  which  will  make  a  difference  of  a  thousand 
years  or  so  in  our  earliest  chronology.  There  are  in  the 
Cretan  museum  scores  of  clay  tablets  inscribed  with  an  un- 
known writing  which  only  await  an  interpreter  to  confound 
and  illuminate  us  all.  Forty  years  ago  eminent  writers  like 
Gladstone  and  Freeman  were  still  looking  to  Homer  for 
their  ideas  of  the  primitive  European  and  his  civilisation. 
Strange  indeed  were  the  results  that  followed.  In  politics 
we  were  to  believe  that  the  earliest  Greeks  settled  their 
affairs  at  a  public  meeting  where  elders  and  princes  made 

12 


^GEAN  CIVILISATION 
persuasive  speeches,  and  radicalism,  though  not  unknown, 
was  sternly  discouraged.  A  benevolent  monarchy,  hereditary 
in  the  male  line,  was  supposed  by  Sir  Henry  Maine  to  be 
the  form  of  government  common  to  primitive  Europe  and 
modern  England.  Literature  was  believed  to  have  begun 
with  elaborate  epic  poems  written  in  hexameters  of  exquisite 
variety  and  extreme  subtlety.  The  primitive  woman  was 
believed  to  have  been  the  object  of  chivalrous  and  romantic 


Tablet  of  Cretan  Linear  Script,  from  Cnossos 


esteem.  Strangest  of  all,  religion  in  this  primitive  world  was 
held  to  have  included  the  cheerful  bantering  of  anthropo- 
morphic gods  and  goddesses.  We  were  to  suppose  that 
the  European  began  by  laughing  at  his  gods  and  ended  by 
worshipping  them. 

Then  in  the  seventies  came  the  redoubtable  Dr. 
Schliemann,  most  erudite  of  sappers,  and  dug  into  the  hill 
at  Hissarlik  to  see  if  he  could  find  the  bones  of  Hector  and 
the  ruins  of  Troy.  Troy  he  found  in  abundance,  five  Troys, 
at  least,  one  on  the  top  of  another.  He  called  the  second 
from  the  bottom  the  city  of  Priam,  and  then  he  crossed  over 
with  his  spades  and  picks  to  look  for  what  might  be  left  of 
Agamemnon  at  Mycenae.  Sure  enough,  he  presently  startled 
the  learned  world  by  a  telegram  to  the  King  of  Greece  saying 
that  he  had  found  the  tomb  of  Agamemnon.  Quite  certainly 
he  had  found  some  very  important  things — things,  as  we  shall 
soon  see,  far  more  interesting  and  valuable  to  history  than  if 
they  had  belonged,  as  Schliemann  thought,  to  the  King  of  all 
the  Greeks.  But  the  point  is  that  for  many  years  to  come 
all  the  excavators  who  worked  on  Greek  soil  started  with  the 
false  belief  that  Homer  was  the  beginning  of  all  things  and 

13 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
that  their  discoveries  were  illustrating  Homer.  We  now 
know  that  the  excavations  at  Mycenae  and  the  poems  of 
Homer  represent  two  entirely  different  civilisations,  neither 
of  them  primitive.  We  are  now  in  a  position  to  throw  the 
beginnings  of  European  culture  in  the  Mediterranean  basin 
centuries — nay,  whole  millenniums — farther  back  than  our 
fathers'  wildest  dreams  could  carry  them.  The  history  of 
European  civilisation  is  no  longer  a  traceable  progression 
from  Homer  to  Tennyson  or  from  Odysseus  to  Captain 
Peary,  but  a  long  cycle  of  rising  and  decaying  cultures  with 
periods  of  darkness  intervening.  For  this  revolution  in  our 
ideas  the  responsible  weapon  is  the  humble  but  veracious 
spade. 

Crete,  the  Doorstep  of  Europe 
We  are  to  picture  the  primitive  tribes  of  the  world  as  con- 
tinually moving  under  the  double  pressure  of  the  wolf  in 
their  bellies  and  the  enemy  at  their  backs — moving,  in  the 
main,  north  and  west,  as  climatic  conditions  relented  before 
them.  So  long  as  they  were  in  this  nomadic  stage  little 
progress  could  be  made  in  civilisation ;  tents  must  form  their 
houses,  and  their  goods  could  be  only  such  trifles  of  necessary 
pots  and  pans  as  they  could  carry.  But  when  the  moving 
tribe  reached  the  sea  it  was  compelled  to  halt  and  settle. 
Thus  it  is  that  civilisation  begins  in  the  oases  of  the  desert, 
on  the  north  coasts  of  Africa,  and  in  the  isles  of  Greece. 
Settled  by  force,  and  to  some  degree  protected  by  nature, 
they  could  begin  to  accumulate  possessions,  and  to  improve 
them  with  art.  They  could  begin  to  build  houses,  and 
develop  morals  and  polities. 

Thus  geography  has  made  it  exceedingly  probable  that 
Crete  would  play  a  momentous  part  in  the  earliest  history  of 
Europe.  That  island  lies  like  a  doorstep  at  the  threshold  of 
Europe.  If  civilisation  was  to  rise  with  the  sun  in  the  East, 
out  of  the  extremely  ancient  civilisations  of  Egypt  and 
Babylon,  by  way  of  those  earliest  carriers  to  the  world's 
markets,  the  Phoenicians  of  Tyre  and  Sidon,  clearly  this  island 
14 


AEGEAN  CIVILISATION 
of  Crete  would  be  their  stepping-stone  to  Europe.  Thus  we 
reason,  knowing  it  to  be  the  truth.  But  we  should  never 
have  learnt  the  truth  from  literature.  In  Homer,  for  example, 
Crete  is  of  little  importance.  It  was  famous  for  its  "ninety 
cities"  and  its  mixed  nationalities,  and  it  was  known  as  the 
former  realm  of  Minos.  There,  too,  the  father  of  all  crafts- 
men, Daedalus,  had  fashioned  a  wondrous  dancing-place. 
But  we  might  almost  gather  from  the  pages  of  Homer  that 
it  was  a  land  whose  glory  had  departed  already.  And  that 
is  the  truth.  Outside  Homer,  Crete,  though  insignificant  in 
history,  takes  a  much  more  important  place  in  mythology 
and  legend.  For  religion  Crete  was  the  birthplace  of  Zeus( 
the  king  of  the  gods.  In  the  history  of  law-making  it  plays 
a  very  important  part,  for  Minos  of  Crete  was  said  to  be  the 
first  law-giver,  and  he  was  placed  as  the  judge  of  the  dead 
by  later  mythology.  In  religion  it  produced  Epimenides,  the 
early  exorcist,  and  in  music  Thaletas.  Then  many  ancient 
historians  give  us  a  tradition  of  early  naval  empires  in  Greek 
waters.  Thalassocracies  they  were  called,  and  that  of  Crete 
stands  at  the  head  of  the  list.  Finally,  those  fortunate  English- 
men whose  introduction  to  Greece  has  come  through  the  won- 
derful "  Heroes"  of  Charles  Kingsley  know  the  story  of  the 
Cretan  labyrinth  and  that  fearsome  beast  the  Minotaur.  They 
know  the  story  of  Theseus  :  how  the  Athenians  of  the  earliest 
times  had  to  send  tribute  every  year  of  their  fairest  youths 
and  maidens  to  King  Minos  of  Crete,  until  one  year  the 
prince  Theseus  besought  old  yEgeus,  his  royal  father,  to  let 
him  go  among  the  number  in  order  to  stop  this  cruel  sacrifice  ; 
how  he  went  at  last,  and  how  the  Cretan  princess,  Ariadne, 
loved  him  and  gave  him  a  weapon  and  a  clue  to  the  laby- 
rinth, and  how  he  slew  the  dreadful  monster  and  deserted  his 
princess  and  returned  home  ;  but  how  he  forgot  also  to  hoist 
the  signal  of  his  safety,  so  that  the  old  king,  seeing  black 
sails  to  his  ship,  cast  himself  headlong  from  the  rock  in  his 
misery,  and  gave  a  name  to  the  JEgean  Sea.  In  old  days 
we  read  it  as  a  beautiful  Greek  romance ;  now  we  think  it 

IS 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
very  likely  that  the  Athenians  in  early  days  did  have  to  pay 
tribute — 

septena  quotannis 
corpora  natorum 

— to  the  empire  of  Minos.    Sir  Arthur  Evans,  the  explorer 
of  Cnossos,  thinks  that  he  has  discovered  the  labyrinth,  and 
perhaps  even  the  Minotaur,  in  his  excavations  at  Cnossos. 
Anyhow,  he  has  discovered  a  civilisation  previously  almost 
unknown  to  history.    As  these  new  discoveries  centre  in 
Crete,  the  excavators  have  naturally  taken  Crete  as  the 
fount  and  origin  of  it  all,  and  call  their  new  old  world 
"  Minoan,"  just  as  the  followers  of  Dr.  Schliemann  called 
their  discoveries  "  Mycenaean."    The  two  cultures  are  not 
distinct ;  Mycenaean  objects  mainly  represent  one  or  two  of  the 
later  stages  of  Minoan  culture.    But  as  similar  objects  have 
been  found  in  many  parts  of  the  Eastern  Mediterranean,  and 
as  it  is  just  possible  (though  not  very  probable)  that  even 
more  wonderful  discoveries  of  a  similar  kind  may  be  made 
elsewhere,  and  as  the  relation  of  Minos  to  these  earliest 
periods  is  by  no  means  established,  we  had  better  be  cautious 
and  adopt  the  most  general  name  of  those  which  have  been 
applied  to  this  culture  and  call  it  "  JEgean,"  or  "  Pre-Achaean," 
or  "  Bronze  Age."    We  may  quite  fairly  use  one  name  for  all 
this  world  of  prehistoric  civilisation  before  Homer,  although 
it  covers  an  enormous  space  of  time  and  may  be  divided  into 
many  distinct  chapters  or  phases  ;  because,  after  all,  there  is 
a  clear  line  of  ancestry  between  the  earliest  of  the  art  forms 
and  the  latest,  indicating  that  the  artists  were  of  the  same 
blood,  however  many  times  their  cities  might  be  destroyed 
and  their  works  buried  under  the  soil.    It  is  so  distinct, 
so  continuous,  and  so  widely  distributed  that  we  are  safe 
in  believing  that  it  was  the  work  of  one  people  spread  all 
over  the  islands  and  coasts  of  the  Mediterranean.  JEgean 
civilisation  has  been  found  in  Crete,  on  the  coasts  of  Asia 
Minor,  on  the  mainland  of  Greece,  in  Egyptian  tombs,  in 
Sicily,  on  the  coast  of  Italy,  at  Torcello  near  Venice,  at 
16 


^GEAN  CIVILISATION 

Bologna,  and  in  Spain.  Etruscan  art  seems  to  be  essentially 
akin  to  it.  Cyprus  has  long  been  known  as  a  centre  of 
/Egean  civilisation,  and  is  at  the  present  moment  yielding 
fresh  treasures  to  the  archaeologist.  But  nowhere  has  it  been 
discovered  in  such  perfect  continuity  and  splendour  as  in  Crete. 

It  is  the  custom  among  archaeologists  to  divide  early 
culture  into  periods,  according  to  the  weapons  in  use.  Ac- 
cordingly we  say  that  the  /Egean  periods  extend  from  the 
Neolithic  to  the  Late  Bronze  Age,  meaning  that  the  earliest 
of  these  /Egean  potsherds  are  found  in  conjunction  with 
polished  flint  weapons  and  tools,  while  along  with  the  latest 
we  find  a  few  rare  pieces  of  iron,  but  mostly  bronze  of  a  very 
high  finish  and  workmanship.  Such  finds  are  dated  very 
roughly  by  the  level  at  which  they  lie,  because  it  is  a  curious 
but  certain  fact  that  the  level  of  ground  once  built  over  is 
constantly  rising  through  accretions  of  dust  and  debris.  In 
any  case,  it  will  be  clear  to  every  one  that  when,  as  at  Troy 
and  Cnossos,  we  find  a  series  of  buildings  each  superimposed 
upon  the  ruins  of  another,  we  can  trace  the  history  of  such 
a  site  from  early  to  late  with  certainty.  Sometimes  it  is 
possible  also  to  get  a  date  byexaminingforeign  objects  found  on 
the  same  site,  such  as  gems  bearing  the  cartouche  or  sign-royal 
of  Egyptian  kings.  Only  we  must  bear  in  mind  that  such 
little  objects  are  easily  displaced  and  often  preserved  for 
many  centuries,  so  that  great  care  must  be  used  in  taking  them 
as  evidence.  Also,  serious  conflicts  are  still  going  on  between 
the  Egyptologists,  and  their  dates  are  by  no  means  ascer- 
tained facts  at  present. 

Progress  of  Mgeau  Culture 
I  have  said  that  the  prehistoric  culture  revealed  by  the 
excavations  in  Crete  and  elsewhere  forms  a  continuous  and 
progressive  history  from  the  Stone  Age  to  the  Iron  Age. 
Sir  Arthur  Evans,  indeed,  has  divided  his  discoveries  into' 
nine  periods,  from  "Early  Minoan  I."  to  "  Late  Minoan  III." 
Without  being  quite  so  precise,  let  us  attempt  to  sketch  a 

b  17 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

history  of  "prehistoric"  civilisation  on  Greek  soil,  taking 
Crete  as  the  centre  of  influence. 

"Neolithic  man"  in  Crete,  though  his  weapons  and 
tools  were  but  polished  stones,  and  far  as  he  was  behind 
his    Neolithic   brothers   of  Central  Europe,   had  already 

begun  to  design  patterns 
upon   his    pottery.  Like 
Nature  abhorring  a  vacuum, 
he  traced  zigzags,  triangles, 
and    chevrons    upon  the 
plastic  clay,  scratching  or 
pricking  lines  and  dots  with 
a  point  of  bone  or  stone, 
and  sometimes  filling  the 
holes   and  scratches  with 
white  gypsum  to  show  up 
the  pattern.    The  body  of 
his   vases    was  generally 
black  and  shiny.  Bucchero 
nero,  as  the  Italian  archae- 
ologists call  it,  is  found  in 
the  Neolithic  strata  all  over 
Black  Vase  from  Cyprus  Southern  Europe. 

His  house  was  generally  of  mud  and  wattles,  but  there 
are  some  examples  of  stone-built  houses  on  a  rectangular 
plan.  In  Thessaly,  where  Neolithic  culture  survived  right 
through  the  flourishing  periods  of  art  in r 
Crete  and  Mycenae,  they  have  even  found 
Neolithic  houses  with  three  rooms  and  the 
sockets  for  wooden  pillars.  Caves  were  still 
used  as  dwellings,  and  there  is  also  a  round 
type  of  hut,  derived,  no  doubt,  from  the  still 
more  primitive  tent  of  skin  and  wickerwork. 
Of  the  religion  of  the  Late  Stone  Age  we 
know  nothing,  except  that  they  buried  their 
dead  with  care  in  tombs  resembling  their 
18 


Plan  of  Neolithic 
House 


^GEAN  CIVILISATION 
dwelling-places.    Archaeology  has  a  rough  method  of  assign- 
ing dates  by  allowing  about  a  thousand  years  for  every  three 
feet  of  deposited  earth  ;  on  this  reckoning  we  may  date  the 
Neolithic  period  in  Crete  anywhere  before  4000  B.C. 

Then  gradually  comes  the  beginning  of  the  Bronze  Age. 
All  civilisation  may  be  regarded  as  a  progress  in  tools  and 
weapons.  Nowhere  is  the  history  of  Europe  traced  with  a 
clearer  pen  than  in  its  armouries.  As  the  guns  of  Cre^cy 
foretold  the  passing  of  chivalry,  so  the  discovery  of  that  alloy 
of  copper  and  tin,  which  produced  a  metal  soft  enough  to 
mould  and  hard  enough  to  work  with,  meant  a  step  forward 
for  civilisation.  At  first,  indeed,  bronze  is  rare  and  costly  ; 
it  is  confined  to  short  dagger-blades  and  spear-points.  Along 
with  the  earliest  bronze  we  find  an  advance  in  the  pottery, 
paint  used  to  trace  the  patterns,  though  the  designs  are  still 
those  of  dot  and  line  ;  experiments  are  being  made  with 
colours  and  glazes.  In  experiment  is  the  germ  of  progress  ; 
the  conventional  artists  of  the  East  imitate  and  sometimes 
improve  their  models,  but  they  seldom  make  experiments. 
In  Assyria  and  Egypt  they  have  produced  wonderful  and 
beautiful  works  of  art.*  But  with  them  art  is  ornament ;  there 
is  no  ideal,  no  striving  to  get  nearer  to  the  truth  of  things. 
The  Oriental  sculptor  soon  loses  touch  with  Nature,  and  as  his 
technique  advances  learns  only  the  language  of  convention. 

So  in  the  forms  and  designs  of  the  pottery  we  watch  a 
steady  upward  march,  the  progress  growing  faster  as  the 
standard  of  achievement  rises.  Curves  and  circles  take 
the  place  of  zigzags  and  triangles.  The  potter  plays  tricks 
with  the  colour  of  his  clay,  daubs  it  with  red,  burns  it  in 
patches.  In  these  strata  we  begin  to  find  imitations  of  the 
human  form,  rude  images  or  "idols,"  possibly  the  votive 
offerings  which  represent  the  worshipper  in  substitution  for 
human  sacrifice.  These  become  conventionalised,  as  every- 
thing connected  with  religion  tends  to  do,  into  queer  fiddle- 
shaped,  goggle-eyed  figures.    All  the  Cretan  artists  insisted 

•  Plate  4. 

19 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
on  the  waist  to  a  degree  which  would  seem  even  to  modern 
eyes  an  exaggeration.  Even  in  Egypt  the  small  waist 
was  regarded  as  a  characteristic  of  the 
Keftiu — the  men  from  the  Isles  of  the  Sea. 
The  broad  shoulders  of  the  men  no  doubt 
are  intended  to  symbolise  strength.  Along 
with  vases  and  "  idols  "  are  found  seals 
whose  emblems  show  traces  of  the 
influence  of  Egypt  under  the  Sixth 
Dynasty  (?  2540  B.C.). 

Now  we  take  a  great  upward  leap 
into  the  "Middle  Minoan"  periods  of  Sir 
Arthur  Evans.  Here  we  find  the  earliest 
writing  of  Europe,  clay  tablets  inscribed 
with  a  pictographic  script.  The  clay 
figures  are  extremely  elaborate  present- 
ments of  the  costume  of  the  day ;  and 
a  highly  elaborate  costume  it  is.  Colour 
is  freely  employed  on  idols  and  pottery. 
The  patterns  pass  into  spirals,  and  occa- 
sionally there  is  direct  imitation  of  Nature 
— goats,  beetles,  and  (as 
the  classical  Greeks  would  say)  other  birds. 

Now  we  are  among  the  earlier  palaces  of 
Cnossos.  Each  period  now  seems  to  have 
ended  with  a  disaster,  after  which  art  rose 
again  triumphantly  above  the  ruins,  to  begin 
where  it  had  left  off  before  the  invader  came 
to  destroy  the  palace  and  shrines  of  its  patrons. 
Here  we  find  the  "  Kamares"  ware,  a  style  of 
pottery  to  which  we  can  perhaps  for  the  first 
time  apply  honest  expressions  of  admiration. 
It  is  often  as  thin  as  eggshell  china.  Its 
shapes  are  extremely  varied  and  graceful ; 
among  them  the  precise  form  of  the  modern 
tea-cup  is  common,  and  beautiful  dishes  for 
20 


Terra-cotta  Figure, 
from  Pet  sofa 


Terra-cotta  Idol, 
from  Troy 


Votive  Terra  cotta,  from  Petsofa.    (Full  size) 


Kamares  Cup 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
offerings  which  resemble  the  modern  epergne.  A  lustrous 
black  glaze  generally  forms  the  background ;  on  it  designs 
are  painted  in  matt  colours,  white,  red,  and  sometimes 
yellow.  The  designs  are  still  chiefly  conven- 
tional patterns  of  stripes  and  spirals.  The 
potter's  wheel  is  by  now  in  common  use,  as 
we  see  from  the  greater  symmetry  and  ac- 
curacy of  the  lines.  It  is  suggested  that  this 
ware  in  its  thinness  and  its  patterns  was  in- 
spired by  metalwork.  It  must  not  be  for- 
gotten that  the  archaeologist  only  finds  what 
the  looting  pirate  has  despised.  The  gold  and  the  bronze 
have  been  taken  and  only  the  humble  potsherds  left. 

In  the  stage  we  have  been  describing  the  general  colour 
effect  of  the  vase  was  the  artist's  first  consideration.  Pre- 
sently (after  another  catastrophe) 
a  new  spirit  begins  to  appear,  the 
desire   to  imitate  the  forms  of 
Nature.    With  increasing  natural- 
ism the  potter  reverts  to  simpler 
colours,  despairing,  it  would  seem, 
of  the  attempt  to  reproduce  the 
colours  of  his  models.  Neither 
greens  nor  blues  could  be  managed 
in  earthenware.  Fortunately,  how-     Kamares  "  Hoie-mouthed  »  Jar 
ever,  a  new  material  was  discovered  which  served  the  purpose. 
This  was  a  kind  of  faience  or  porcelain.  The  idea  was  imported 
from  Egypt,  but  a  native  factory  was  set  up  in  the  palace  of 
Cnossos,  and  we  even  find  the  steatite  moulds  by  which  the 
patterns  were  impressed.     The  naturalism  is  extremely 
skilful  and  effective.    One  of  the  most  beautiful  examples  is 
illustrated.*    It  is  the  favourite  motive  of  an  animal  suckling 
her  young,  constantly  found  as  a  heraldic  type  on  coins  and 
seals.    Here  it  is  evidently  drawn  from  a  direct  study  of 
Nature,  so  living  is  the  pose,  so  faithful  is  the  expression  of 

*  Plate  5,  Fig.  3. 

22 


Plate  5.    FAIENCE  FROM  THE  TEMPLE  REPOSITORY  OF  THE 
SECOND  PALACE,  CNOSSOS,  CRETE. 


[P.  B, 


^BGEAN  CIVILISATION 

the  muscles.  It  is  probably  a  failing  of  archaeologists  to  see 
religion  everywhere  they  go.  It  is  certain  that  the  suckling 
motive  was  in  after  times  associated  with  the  worship  of 
maternal  deities  such  as  Hera.  It  is  certain  also  that  the 
prehistoric  Cretan  did  worship  powers  of  fecundity  in  human 
and  animal  form.  But  we  need  not  transform  this  she-goat 
into  a  goddess.  I  much  prefer  to  be  sure  that  this  prehistoric 
Cretan  loved  and  studied  the  wild  creatures  of  his  native  hills 
and  his  native  blue  sea.  Art  and  Nature  are  hand  in  hand 
now  on  vases  and  gems  also.  We  have  seal  types  bearing 
wolves'  heads,  owls  and  shells,  scenes  from  the  boxing-ring  and 
the  bull-ring.  The  writing  has  progressed  from  mere  picto- 
graphs  to  a  linear  script.  It  is  astonishing  to  find  the  Cretan 
of  the  twentieth  century  b.c.  writing  with  pen  and  ink. 

We  pass  on  to  the  "  Late  Minoan  "  periods,  the  ages  of 
masterpiece.  Here  Mycenae  enters  the  story,  for  though 
much  earlier  objects  dating  from  the  Stone  Ages  have  been 
found  both  at  Mycenae  and  Troy,  the  best  Mycenaean  work  is 
contemporary  with  the  "  Late  Minoan  "  of  Crete.  The  weapons 
now  are  swords  of  bronze.  As  for  the  designs  of  pottery, 
whereas  in  the  Jast  period  they  were  generally  drawn  in  white 
upon  a  dark  ground,  they  are  now  drawn  in  red  or  brown 
upon  a  light  ground.  They  are  still  naturalistic,  and  in  the 
best  specimens  the  artists  have  achieved  the  highest  triumph 
of  vase-painting,  namely,  to  apply  the  artistic  forms  of  Nature 
to  serve  their  purpose,  subordinating  her  as  she  ought  (being 
a  female)  to  be  subordinated.  Observe  how  the  murex  shells 
are  used  along  with  conventional  patterns  and  how  the  light 
and  shade  are  massed  a  la  Beardsley.  It  seems  probable 
that  the  early  painter  selected  those  natural  forms,  such  as 
the  octopus,  the  shell,  and  the  star-fish,  which  most  nearly 
resembled  the  geometric  patterns  used  by  his  predecessors. 

The  shapes  are  now  extremely  graceful.  These  pointed 
pitchers  were  used  as  we  see  in  the  famous  frieze  of  the  Cup- 
bearer, to  serve  the  wine.  There  is  generally  a  hole  in  the 
base  to  strain  it.    Drinking  vessels  were  often  of  that  fairest 

23 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
of  Attic  shapes  known  as  the  kylix.    We  notice  how  marine 
objects  predominate  in  the  natural  forms  selected.  That 
alone  might  have  given  us  a  hint  to  look 
for  an  island  as  the  centre  of  this  art. 

Now  comes  the  great  period  of  pre- 
historic architecture,  of  which  we  find 
examples  in  the  palaces  of  Cnossos, 
Mycenae,  and  Tiryns.  What  cranes  were 
used  to  hoist  these  great  masses  into 
position  we  do  not  know.  We  cannot 
guess  what  tools  were  used  for  cutting 
and  boring  the  solid  stone  as  it  was  cut 
into  the  gigantic  steatite  wine-casks  or 
the  monolithic  columns  or  the  limestone 
reliefs.  We  can  only  marvel  at  them  as  we 
marvel  at  the  Sphinx  and  the  Pyramids. 
At  Cnossos  there  were  magnificent 
halls,  decorated  with  painted  frescoes 
of  wonderful  craftsmanship  or  stone 
carvings  in  high  and  low  relief.  There 
was  a  great  hall  of  audience  in  particular, 
shaped  like  a  Roman  basilica  or  an  early 
Christian  church,  a  building  so  utterly 
out  of  its  age  that  architects  are  amazed 
when  it  is  placed  in  the  second  millennium  before  Christ. 
There  is  a  throne,  of  what  every  one  would  have  called  Gothic 
design.  Of  the  rest  of  the  architectural  marvels  of  these 
"  Minoan"  palaces,  their  upper  stories,  their  light-wells,  their 
double  staircases,  of  the  bull-ring  and  wrestling-ring,  with  its 
royal  box,  of  the  water-gate,  and  the  engineering  skill  which 
overcame  the  slope  down  to  the  river,  of  the  magazines  and 
store-rooms,  with  their  Aladdin's  jars  still  standing  where 
King  Minos'  storekeepers  placed  them,  of  the  Queen's 
Chamber  and  the  Hall  of  the  Distaffs  and  of  the  Royal  Villa — 
of  these  things  let  the  architects  and  Sir  Arthur  Evans  relate. 
It  would  need  pages  of  ground-plans  to  exhibit  them,  for  after 
24 


Cretan  Filler 


AEGEAN  CIVILISATION 

all  the  palaces  of  Crete  are  little  more  than  ground-plans  to  the 
layman,  and  ground-plans  are  dreary  things.  Sir  Arthur  Evans, 
indeed,  believes  that  it  was 
the  intricacy  of  these  miles  of 
ruined  foundations  which  pro- 
vided the  later  Greeks  with 
their  legend  of  the  Labyrinth. 
The  frescoes  are  truly  mar- 
vellous, whether  we  consider 
the  glorious  youth  called  the 
Cupbearer,*  with  his  dark 
curly  head  and  perfect  Greek 
profile,  or  the  vividly  natural 
bull's  head  in  stucco,  t  Among 
the  wonders  is  the  veritable 
board  on  which  King  Minos  Cuttle-fish  Kylix 

may  have  played  backgammon  according  to  the  prehistoric 
rules  of  that  respectable  game.  It  is  of  gold  and  silver,  of  ivory 
and  crystal  and  "kuanos" — a  board  fit  for  a  thalassocrat. 

There  is  something  here  for  every  one.  The  sportsman 
will  observe  the  methods  of  pugilism  indicated  on  the  gems, 
admiring  the  muscular  development  and  the  free  action  of  the 

Cnossian  prize-fighter.  He 


seems  to  have  neglected  his 
"guard,"  but  then  he  was 
separated  by  a  barrier  from 
his  opponent.  Or  we  may 
study  the  laws  of  bull-baiting 
as  practisedat  Cnossos,  noting 
the  agility  with  which  torea- 
dors, male  and  female,  leap 
over  the  animal's  head.  The 
milliner  may  study  the  latest 


Clay  Seal  Impression  :  Pugilist 


modes  of  to-day  on  the  fashion-plates  of  the  eighteenth 
century  before  Christ.     She  will  find  the  flounced  petticoat 
*  Plate 7.  t  Plate 6. 

25 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

of  yesterday,  the  narrow  waist,  the  bodice  cut  extremely 
decolletee,  the  high  coiffure  of  to-morrow,  the  Medici  collar, 
the  zouave  jacket.  She  will  see  hats  which  Mr.  Myres  con- 
siders "unparalleled,"  some  flat  like  the  mode  of  1902,  others 
with  turned-up  brims  and  roses  underneath  like  that  of 
to-day. 

The  plumber  too  will  find  a  paradise  in  Cnossos.  There 
are  lavatories,  sinks,  sewers,  and  man-holes.  Let  me  quote 
Professor  Burrows :  "  The  main  drain,  which  had  its  sides 
coated  with  cement,  was  over  3  feet  high,  and  nearly  2  feet 
broad,  so  that  a  man  could  easily  move  along  it ;  and  the 
smaller  stone  shafts  that  discharged  into  it  are  still  in 
position.  Farther  north  we  have  preserved  to  us  some  01 
the  terra-cotta  pipes  that  served  for  connections.  Each  ot 
them  was  about  i\  feet  long,  with  a  diameter  that  was  about 
6  inches  at  the  broad  end,  and  narrowed  to  less  than  4  inches 
at  the  mouth,  where  it  fitted  into  the  broad  end  of  the  next 
pipe.  Jamming  was  carefully  prevented  by  a  stop-ridge  that 
ran  round  the  outside  of  each  narrow  end  a  few  inches  from 
the  mouth,  while  the  inside  of  the  butt,  or  broader  end,  was 
provided  with  a  raised  collar  that  enabled  it  to  bear  the 
pressure  of  the  next  pipe's  stop-ridge,  and  gave  an  extra  hold 
for  the  cement  that  bound  the  two  pipes  together."  Let  no 
cultivated  reader  despise  these  details.  There  is  no  truer 
sign  of  civilisation  and  culture  than  good  sanitation.  It  goes 
with  refined  senses  and  orderly  habits.  A  good  drain  implies 
as  much  as  a  beautiful  statue.  And  let  it  be  remembered 
that  the  world  did  not  reach  the  Minoan  standard  of  cleanli- 
ness again  until  the  great  English  sanitary  movement  of  the 
late  nineteenth  century. 

The  Mainland  Palaces 
Though  there  is  so  much  to  interest  the  architect  in 
Cnossos,  and  though  the  finest  ashlar  masonry  is  to  be  found 
there,  the  ordinary  student  of  ancient  building  will  probably 
prefer  to  go  for  his  examples,  as  of  old,  to  the  contemporary 
26 


Citadel  of  Tiryns 


THE  GLORY  THAT^WAS  GREECE 
palaces  of  Mycenae  and  Tiryns.  In  Cnossos  there  was  little 
or  no  fortification — another  proof  that  the  Minoan  empire^ 
rested  safe  behind  wooden  walls.  But  on  the  mainland  we 
have  two  magnificent  fortresses  and  citadels,  so  well  preserved 
and  so  cleverly  excavated  by  Schliemann  and  Tsountas  that 
the  untrained  eye  can  take  in  at  a  glance  the  essential 
features  of  the  architecture.  At  Tiryns  the  builder  has  taken 
the  fullest  advantage  of  the  natural  strength  of  his  position. 
The  top  of  the  hill  has  been  levelled  and  the  summit  encircled 
with  a  gigantic  wall  seldom  less  than  fifteen  feet  thick.  In 
the  wall  there  are  galleries  opening  internally  upon  a  series 
of  magazines.  Along  it  at  intervals  there  are  massive  watch- 
towers.  One  such  screens  each  of  the  gateways.  The 
main  gate  on  the  east  side  is  approached  by  a  long  ascending 
ramp,  which  is  exposed  all  the  way  to  attack  from  the  wall 
that  towers  above.  To  reach  the  postern-gate  on  the  west 
you  had  also  to  climb  a  long  flight  of  steps.  The  hill-top, 
which  is  more  than  900  feet  long,  consists  of  a  lower  plateau 
to  the  north,  on  which  no  traces  of  building  have  been  found, 
possibly  because  there  were  only  wooden  erections  there  for 
the  soldiers,  or  possibly  because  it  was  left  bare  as  a  place  of 
refuge  for  the  cattle.  The  higher  plateau  to  the  south 
contains  the  palace,  with  its  great  pillared  megaron,  or  hall. 
In  this  there  is  a  circular  central  hearth.  Close  behind  is  the 
hall  of  the  women,  with  sleeping-chambers  at  hand,  and  a 
strong  treasury  partly  built  into  the  wall.  There  is  an 
elaborate  bathroom,  with  drain-pipes  and  water-supply,  hot 
and  cold,  a  little  to  the  west  of  the  megaron.  The  three 
inner  courts  are  sumptuously  paved  with  mosaic,  and  the  walls 
were  covered  with  frescoes.  It  appears  that  the  buildings  on 
the  summit  of  the  hill  were  all  of  a  palatial  description,  and 
the  conclusion  is  that  the  commons  lived  in  the  plain  below, 
governed  and  protected  by  their  citadel.  Tiryns  lies  on  the 
flank  of  the  plain  of  Argos,  and  within  a  few  miles  of  the  sea. 
As  this  one  small  plain  included  also  the  other  ancient 
fortresses  of  Mycenae  and  Argos,  the  dominions  of  this  king 
28 


Plate  7.    THE  "  CUP-BEARER  "  FRESCO 

(Seep.2S)  tA23 


^GEAN  CIVILISATION 

must  have  been  very  small.  It  has  been  plausibly  suggested 
that  these  citadels  principally  existed  to  command  the  high- 
ways leading  to  the  Isthmus  of  Corinth. 

At  Mycenae  the  fortification  work  is  similar.  Our  view 
of  the  Lion  Gate  *  will  give  some  idea  of  the  massive, 
Cyclopean  masonry.  The  great  relief  itself  is  clearly  a 
heraldic  device  ;  some  such  grouping  of  animals  is  constantly 
seen  upon  seals  and  gems,  and  the  lion  (or  lioness?)  has 
always  been  a  royal  beast.  But,  heraldic  though  it  be,  this 
enormous  group  is  far  from  lifeless  conventionality.  Some 
scholars  believe  that  the  pillar  between  the  animals  is  a  proof 
of  the  much-discussed  pillar-worship  of  prehistoric  Greece. 

But  the  most  interesting  of  the  Mycenaean  remains  are 
undoubtedly  the  tombs.  In  the  city  itself  there  is  a  circular 
enclosure  surrounded  by  a  double  series  of  paving-stones  set 
into  the  ground  on  edge,  thus  forming  a  ring  of  shaft  graves 
whose  purpose  was  plainly  shown  by  the  objects  and  bones 
found  in  them.    Down  in  the  plain  below  were  found  other 


Beehive  Tomb :  Section 


burying-places,  also  circular,  but  of  a  later  date  and  much 
more  striking.  These  subterranean  "beehive"  tombs  have 
been  found  elsewhere  in  Greece,  but  nowhere  of  such 
splendour.  It  was  one  of  these  which  Schliemann  proclaimed 
to  be  the  tomb  of  Agamemnon.  Like  the  pyramids  in  Egypt, 
it  contains  an  inner  chamber,  which  forms  the  actual  grave, 
outside  it  a  circular  "tholos,"  probably  a  shrine  for  the  cult  of 
the  departed,  and  a  long  "dromos,"  or  inclined  approach. 

*  Plate  8 

29 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

The  tholos  is  of  great  interest  to  architects  as  providing  a 
forerunner  of  the  dome.  But  it  is  not  built  on  the  principle 
of  the  arch,  with  wedge-shaped  masses  and  a  keystone. 
This  dome  is  contrived  by  laying  ever-narrowing  circles  of 
masonry  one  upon  the  other  concentrically,  the  interior  being 
smoothed,  plastered,  and  richly  decorated.  It  is  thought 
that  the  bee-hive  shape  reproduces  the  primitive  bell-tent, 
for  the  tombs  of  the  dead  are  generally  copied  from  the 
abodes  of  the  living.  Such  splendour  in  the  tomb,  such 
careful  concealing  of  the  dead  underground  in  an  inner 
chamber,  unquestionably  proves  ancestor-worship. 

The  sixth  city  at  Troy  was  of  much  the  same  style  and 
date  as  these  ;  larger,  indeed,  than  all,  and  with  its  houses 
radiating  from  the  centre  like  the  spokes  of  a  wheel.  On  the 
Athenian  Acropolis  too  there  are  traces  of  a  similar  pre- 
historic settlement.  We  are  probably  to  imagine  the  face  of 
the  Greek  world  in  the  second  millennium  B.C.  as  dotted  with 
these  citadel  palaces. 

Mycenae  has  yielded  many  interesting  treasures  of  a  minor 
sort.  It  was  especially  rich  in  gold,  and  we  notice  with 
great  interest  the  masks  of  thin  gold  laid  upon  the  faces  of 
the  dead.  Nor  has  Crete  yet  produced  any  object  in  gold 
to  rival  the  famous  pair  of  cups  *  found  at  Vaphio,  in  Laconia. 
These  are  of  gold  repousse\  and  their  designs  of  wild  and 
tame  cattle  are  incomparably  living  and  natural.  But  Sir 
Arthur  Evans  is  probably  justified  both  on  grounds  of  style 
and  subject  in  claiming  these  superb  treasures  as  exports 
from  Crete.  The  palm-tree  betrays  a  Southern  origin.  In 
Mycenae,  too,  were  found  the  finely  inlaid  dagger-blades  j* 
which  give  us  a  picture  of  the  men  and  weapons  of  the 
Mycenaean  or  Late  Minoan  ages  of  ./Egean  culture.  The  men, 
we  observe,  are  armed  with  long  spears  and  huge  figure-of- 
eight  shields  composed  of  wickerwork  covered  with  bull's 
hide  and  pinched  in  at  the  "waist"  so  as  to  encircle  the  body 
and  provide  a  hand-grip.    The  warriors  wear  no  clothing  but 

*  Plate  9.  t  plate  I0« 

30 


Plate  8.   THE  LION  GATE,  MYCEN.fi  [A  3° 

(See  p.  29) 


AEGEAN  CIVILISATION 

breeches  or  loin-cloths,  and  in  this  they  resemble  the  men  of 
the  Cretan  frescoes  and  gems. 

And  what  came  of  it  all  ?  Somewhere,  it  would  seem, 
about  1400  B.C.  Cnossos  underwent  its  final  catastrophe.  The 
palace  was  sacked  and  burnt,  the  ateliers  of  its  brilliant 
artists  were  destroyed,  and  the  artists  themselves  slain  or 
scattered.    So  the  centre  of  illumination  was  darkened  for  the 


Cretan  Cup  of  Degenerate  Styla. 


whole  yEcrean  world.  Elsewhere  /Egean  civilisation  con- 
tinued  perhaps  for  two  centuries  more,  and  in  Cnossos  itself 
there  is  yet  another  period  when  the  palace  sites  were  partially 
reoccupied  by  a  few  stragglers  of  the  old  artistic  race.  But 
with  the  fall  of  his  patron  the  inspiration  of  the  craftsman 
vanishes,  degeneration  rapidly  sets  in.  Even  in  the  designs 
of  the  vases  the  bold,  naturalistic  drawing  deteriorates  into 
lazy  formulae,  the  brilliance  of  the  glaze  grows  dull,  the 
colours  are  flat  and  muddy.  A  good  deal  of  Mycenaean  art 
is  of  this  decadent  type,  and  a  good  deal  more  of  it  has  been 
found  in  the  neighbouring  sites  of  Crete. 

Among  the  relics  of  this  period  are  objects  which  betray 
the  cause  of  the  downfall — weapons  of  iron.  The  Bronze 
Ages  are  passing  away  before  the  superior  metal,  as  the  Stone 
Ages  had  yielded  to  the  Bronze. 

3i 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 


The  Makers  of  TEgean  Art 
It  now  becomes  our  duty  to  sum  up  this  wonderful  world 
of  archaeology  and  to  consider  its  bearings  on  the  history 
and  art  of  later  Greece.    Unfortunately  many  problems  arise 
at  this  point  for  which  at  present  the  archaeologists  cannot 
agree  to  offer  a  solution.     Who  were  these  ^Egean  folk? 
Were  they  of  European  stock  and  language?     We  have 
already  agreed,  I  think,  that  they  represent  a  primitive  stratum 
of  population  which  originally  spread  all  over  the  south  of 
Europe  and  the  basin  of  the  Mediterranean.    The  Cup- 
bearer may  indicate  their  physique,  black  curly  hair,  straight 
nose,  long  skull ;  and  I,  for  one,  decline  to  believe  that  this 
fine  fellow  is  a  Semite  or  Phoenician,  as  has  been  suggested. 
We  know  that  these  people  were  extraordinarily  gifted, 
especially  in  the  sense  of  form,  and  that  they  were  capable  of 
very  rapid  development.     May  we  not  believe  that  one  and 
the  same  stock  has  lain  at  the  base  of  the  peoples  of  the 
Eastern  Mediterranean  from  prehistoric  times  until  to-day, 
much  as  it  has  been  crossed  and  conquered  and  oppressed  ? 
And  was  their  language  Greek  ?    That  is  a  question  that  we 
cannot  answer  for  certain,  since  no  one  has  yet  been  able  to 
interpret  their  handwriting.     I  see  no  reason  to  dispute 
Professor  Ridgeway's  argument  that  as  the  stock  prevailed 
through  several  waves  of  conquest  from  the  north,  so  the 
language  survived  without  material  change,  just  as  Italian 
prevailed  through  the  Lombard  conquest  of  North  Italy. 
Nationalities  were  more  mixed  in  Crete  and  Cyprus  than 
on  the  mainland  of  Greece.     It  can  but  be  an  opinion 
delivered  in  the  consciousness  of  many  counteracting  argu- 
ments, but  I  believe  that  the  people  whose  culture  we  have 
been  describing  were  essentially  the  same  as  we  know  in 
historic  times,  and  of  course  Europeans. 

From  the  historian's  point  of  view  it  is  important  to 
observe  that  civilisation  in  Europe  began,  as  in  Asia,  under  the 
fostering  care  of  autocracy  in  palace  workshops.  It  was  bound 
32 


AEGEAN  CIVILISATION 

to  be  so.  All  the  archaeological  indications  point  to  a  strong 
and  tyrannical  form  of  monarchy  of  the  Oriental  type.  Those 
Cyclopean  walls  were  built  by  slave  labour.  The  common 
folk  and  soldiers  are  represented  as  almost  naked.  It  was  a 
commercial  empire  too.  Those  rows  and  rows  of  store-rooms, 
with  their  huge  jars,  formed  the  bank  and  treasury.  Very 
probably  the  clay  tablets  will  be  found  to  contain,  not  pre- 
historic sonnets,  but  merely  lists  and  inventories  of  stores  and 
tribute. 

We  must  not  be  carried  too  far  by  our  wonder  at  this  un- 
expected revelation  of  prehistoric  culture.  The  later  Greeks 
never  reached  such  a  standard  as  these  people  in  writing  or 
in  engineering  or  in  fortification  or  in  many  of  the  handicrafts. 
They  could  never  have  represented  the  forms  of  Nature  with 
the  same  realism.  That  is  true,  but  there  is  something  want- 
ing in  the  prehistoric  JEgean  art  which  only  classical  Greece 
could  give  to  the  world.  There  is  little  nOot  in  JEgean  art, 
little  nobility,  though  much  beauty,  no  ethical  ideal.  How 
that  missing  something  was  supplied  and  whence  it  came  we 
shall  see  in  the  next  chapter. 

Another  question  arises :  How  far  was  this  culture 
original?  How  much  does  it  owe  to  Assyria,  Egypt,  and 
Phoenicia  ?  Much,  but  not  everything.  The  drainage  system 
of  the  palace  has  its  original  in  Assyria,  and  some  think 
that  the  laws  of  Minos  were  derived  from  the  code  of 
Khammurabi.  The  faience  comes  from  Egypt ;  so  do  many 
of  the  lotus  and  lily  patterns  of  the  vases.  Crete  was  bound 
to  be  greatly  indebted  to  Egypt.  As  for  Phoenicians,  they 
are  carriers  and  traders,  but  no  one  has  yet  proved  that 
they  could  initiate  in  anything — except,  perhaps,  religion. 
But  what  Crete  borrowed  it  transformed,  and,  as  I  believe, 
Europeanised  ;  it  rejected  deliberately  the  Oriental  tendencies 
to  conventional  stylistic  imitation. 

A  word  remains  to  be  said  about  religion.  In  classical 
Greece,  as  everybody  knows,  there  was  a  prevailing  cult  of 
state  gods  and  goddesses,  an  anthropomorphic  Olympian 

C  33 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
family,  Zeus,  Hera,  Athena,  Artemis,  Apollo,  and  the  rest  of 
them.  But  recent  students  of  religion  have  pointed  out 
that  side  by  side  with  the  public  worship  of  celestial  deities 
there  was  a  more  mysterious  but  more  real  devotion  to  a 
quite  different  form  of  religion,  a  cult  of  Nature  goddesses, 
with  mystical  rites  whose  origin  was  more  than  half  forgotten. 
To  this  class  belong  the  Mysteries  of  Eleusis,  to  name  the 
most  famous  example,  and  it  is  seen  in  the  many-breasted 
"  Diana  of  the  Ephesians."  Now  Professor  Ridgeway  has 
long  taught  that  this  naturalistic  worship  was  probably  a 
survival  from  the  prehistoric  ages  of  Greece.  It  is  at  its 
strongest  in  Arcadia,  the  untouched  primitive  part  of  Greece. 
He  calls  it  the  religion  of  the  Southern  mother,  retained  in 
spite  of  the  Northern  father  who  would  have  his  Zeus-Odin 
worshipped  in  public.  The  discoveries  in  Crete  have  con- 
firmed this  theory,  and  thrown  some  light  on  the  naturalistic 
worship  of  later  times.  The  principal  deity 
of  Crete  was  a  Nature  goddess,  generally 
represented  as  adorned  with  snakes.*  She 
was  worshipped  with  orgiastic  rites,  ecstatic 
dances,  shaking  of  rattles,  ornately  robed 
priests,  and  emblematical  processions.  Along 
with  this  worship,  and  probably  older,  as  the 
aniconic  precedes  the  iconic  stage  of  religion, 
Clay  Seal  impres-  there  are  many  signs  of  aniconic  fetishes, 

sion  with   Cruci-  ,  .  ,  .  ,  .  ., 

form  Symbol,  from  pillar-worship,  axe- worship,  tree-worship,  and 
Temple  Reposi-  even  cross-worship.  The  monster  forms  of 
tory,  Cnossos  bull-men,  dog-men,  snake-men  may  be  only 
heraldic  signs,  or  they  may  indicate  a  worship  of  monsters 
such  as  prevailed  in  Egypt.  Certainly  there  was  worship  of 
the  entombed  ancestor.  We  can  see  that  the  artistic  people 
of  prehistoric  Greece  were  very  near  to  the  earth  after  all. 

•  Plate  5,  Fig.  i. 


34 


II 


THE  HEROIC  AGE 


avbpuv  fipa>aiv  6tiov  ytvos  oi  KaXtovrai 
rifitdtoi.  ;Hesiod. 

The  Northern  Invaders 

N  stepping  out  of  Crete  into  Homer 
we  are  leaving  a  material  world 
of  artists  for  a  literary  world 
of  heroes.  Incidentally  it  may 
be  mentioned  that  we  are  step- 
ping over  three  or  four  cen- 
turies without  any  history.  These 
have  rightly  been  called  the  Dark 
Ages,  for  the  analogy  between 
these  prehistoric  Dark  Ages  and 
those  of  history  is  singularly  close. 
The  Cnossian  empire  fell  before  the  barbarians,  though  in 
this  case  the  last  scenes  must  have  taken  place  at  sea.  Thus 
the  stability  and  order  of  life  in  the  /Egean  was  broken  up 
and  the  lamp  of  culture  flickered  out.  Some  sparks  of  it 
struggled  on,  to  burn  up  again  with  even  greater  brilliance 
in  the  classical  period.  But  some  of  the  crafts  perished 
entirely,  such  as  the  faience  and  the  gypsum  or  stucco  reliefs. 
The  writing  seems  to  have  perished  and  been  reinvented 
or  reimported  later  on.  The  use  of  weights  and  money 
perished  for  a  time  out  of  the  Greek  world.  These  things 
were  closely  bound  up  with  a  flourishing  commerce,  and  now 
the  sea  became  unsafe  for  commerce.  Sculpture  had  to 
begin  again  from  the  beginning,  and  though  the  shapes  of 
pottery  in  some  cases  seem  to  survive  right  through,  yet  the 

35 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

designs  suffer  an  extraordinary  degradation  and  barbarisation 
before  they  begin  again  to  be  admirable.  The  same  cause 
operated  here  as  after  the  fall  of  Rome.  The  world  was 
being  remade,  new  peoples  were  coming  upon  the  scene ; 
there  was  a  long  period  of  Wandering  of  the  Nations,  with 
no  Christian  missionaries  to  mitigate  their  barbarism — or  to 
chronicle  their  progress.  It  is  a  period  without  any  history, 
and  not  all  the  imaginative  reconstructions  of  poetical  pro- 
fessors can  really  throw  much  light  upon  it.  The  Egyptians 
of  about  1 200  B.C.  observed  that  there  was  unrest  among  the 
Isles  of  the  Sea,  and  that  is  all,  so  far  as  we  can  read  the  stones. 

The  invaders  are  not  to  be  thought  of  as  a  single  tribe  or 
a  single  movement.  More  like  our  early  Danish  invaders, 
they  began  gradually  and  continued  slowly.  The  culture 
of  the  yEgfean  declined  rather  than  ceased,  surviving  longer 
in  the  hill-fortresses  of  the  mainland  than  in  unfortified 
Cnossos.  But  sooner  or  later  destruction  came  to  Mycenae 
and  Tiryns  and  Troy,  so  that  people  of  alien  civilisation  came 
and  built  inferior  houses  among  the  ruins  of  the  palaces  or 
sheltered  themselves  like  the  jackals  and  owls  of  Isaiah  among 
the  Cyclopean  masses.  In  one  case  they  plastered  over  an  old 
Mycenaean  gravestone  and  drew  their  own  clumsy  picture  upon 
it  (see  p.  37).  No  wonder  that  legends  arose  about  the  magical 
race  of  Cyclopes  who  built  so  amazingly,  and  no  wonder  that 
the  Greeks  of  later  time  put  their  Golden  Age  into  the  past  in- 
stead of  the  future.  The  poet  Hesiod,  writing  probably  in  the 
seventh  century  B.C.,  divided  the  history  of  the  world  into  five 
ages  of  deterioration.  First  come  the  Golden  and  Silver  Ages  of 
virtue,  both,  of  course,  purely  ideal.  Then  comes  the  Bronze 
Age,  mighty  and  strong.  "  Of  bronze  were  their  vessels,  of 
bronze  their  houses,  with  tools  of  bronze  they  worked  :  dark 
iron  was  not  yet."  At  last  they  passed  away,  and  then  came 
a  fourth  generation  on  the  procreant  earth,  "a  generation 
juster  and  better,  the  divine  race  of  Heroes,  who  are  called 
demigods.  Cruel  war  and  the  stern  cry  of  battle  destroyed 
them,  some  as  they  strove  for  the  flocks  of  CEdipus  at  Thebes, 
36 


THE  HEROIC  AGE 
and  some  when  they  had  been  led  on  shipboard  over  the 
great  gulf  of  the  sea  to  Troy  for  the  sake  of  Helen  with  her 
lovely  tresses."    Then  these  too  went  hence  "to  dwell  in 


Warrior  Steld  from  ^fyccn^e 


the  Isles  of  the  Blessed  by  the  deep-surging  Ocean,  like 
happy  heroes,  and  the  fertile  earth  yields  them  honey-sweet 
harvest  thrice  a  year."  But,  alas  for  the  poet,  he  is  doomed 
to  live  among  the  fifth  race,  the  Men  of  Iron. 

This  is  not  all  fancy:  the  Bronze  Age  is  history,  as  we 
have  seen  ;  so  is  the  Iron  Age.  What  then  of  the  age 
between,  the  Age  of  Heroes  ?  It  comes  in  awkwardly,  for  it 
disturbs  the  poet's  picture  of  degeneration.  But  it  has  to  be 
inserted  in  deference  to  the  beliefs  of  Hesiod's  audience. 
Hesiod  is  more  or  less  consciously  writing  a  Bible  for  the 

37 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

Greeks — that  is,  putting  their  religious  customs  into  literary 
form.  This  is  his  concession  to  hero-worship  or  ancestor- 
worship.  The  Heroic  Age  of  Demigods,  the  milieu  of 
Homeric  poems  and  Attic  tragedy,  is  not  historical,  and  it  is 
vain  to  make  it  so. 

The  men  of  Iron  came  in  from  the  North  in  wave  after 
wave  of  conquest.  There  were  Achseans,  Thessalians,  and 
finally  Dorians.  The  process  began  in  earnest,  perhaps,  with 
the  fall  of  the  Minoan  empire,  which  Professor  Burrows  assigns 
to  a  date  between  1414  and  1380  B.C.  The  Dorians,  who  were 
the  last-comers,  are  generally  supposed  to  have  been  coming  in 
between  1100  and  1000  B.C.  Dr.  Ridgeway  has  proved  the 
Northern  origin  of  these  various  invaders  by  consideration  of 
their  remains,  which  he  has  traced  back  to  Central  Europe. 
They  were  armed  with  long  iron  swords,  iron-pointed  spears, 
they  carried  round  shields  with  a  central  boss,  and  were  dressed 
in  a  full  panoply  of  bronze  armour,  helmet  with  crest  and  plume, 
hauberk  of  mail,  greaves  on  their  legs,  and  a  studded  belt  ot 
bronze  and  leather.  Underneath  they  wore  a  tunic  or  chiton, 
which  they  fastened  on  the  shoulder  with  a  fibula,  or  safety- 
pin  brooch.  They  rode  to  battle  in  chariots.  Thus  they 
differ  in  every  essential  from  the  people  of  the  y£gean  culture, 
whose  warriors  wore  nothing  but  a  loin-cloth  or  short 
breeches,  and  had  no  armour  but  a  huge  figure-of-eight  or 
oblong  shield  made  of  wicker  and  leather,  who  fought  mainly 
with  slings  and  arrows,  who  scarcely  knew  the  horse,  whose 
women  were  dressed  in  petticoats  with  flounces  and  some- 
times in  tight-fitting  bodices  narrow  at  the  waist,  needing  no 
pin  or  brooch  to  fasten  them.  The  /Egean  warriors  are  so 
depicted  on  their  monuments.*  Some  hints  as  to  their 
religious  beliefs  we  can  gather  from  their  different  customs 
of  disposing  of  the  dead.  For  whereas  the  /Egean  race  had 
preserved  their  dead  carefully  underground  in  shafts  and 
domes,  pouring  in  libations  of  wine  or  blood  to  feed  their 
hungry  ghosts  in  a  dark  lower  world,  crowded  with  powerful 

•  Plate  ix. 

38 


THE  HEROIC  AGE 
spirits,  these  Northerners  looked  up  to  a  heaven  above, 
where  a  Zeus  very  much  like  Odin  ruled  the  skies  with  his 
thunderbolt  amid  a  family  of  warlike  gods  and  goddesses, 
who  delighted  in  the  smoke  of  burnt  offerings.  When  their 
heroes  died  their  bodies  were  burnt  on  the  pyre  and  their 
souls  departed  to  the  Isles  of  the  Blessed,  an  earthly  Valhalla 
of  feasting  and  fighting.  The  ^Egean  race  had  at  the 
same  time  worshipped  the  powers  of  reproductive  Nature 
in  female  guise,  and  inheritance  went  through  females. 
The  Northerners  were  brave  and  strong,  chaste  and  law- 
abiding.  With  them  the  father  was  unquestioned  head  of 
the  household,  but  the  mother  was  free  and  honoured.  The 
Northman  was  an  infantry  soldier,  free  in  his  right  as  a 
warrior,  the  Southerner  a  sailor  with  a  quick  intelligence,  a 
gift  for  commerce,  and  a  passion  for  art  and  beauty.  The 
Northman  had  one  art  only,  the  music  of  the  harp.  The 
Southerner  was  more  truly  religious — that  is  to  say,  he  felt 
the  mystery  of  the  unseen  and  the  thrills  of  devotion  ;  the 
natural  world  that  appealed  to  him  so  strongly  showed  itself 
to  his  mind  under  the  forms  of  mysticism.  The  Northerner 
was  far  too  much  of  a  moralist  and  theologian  to  be  an 
ecstatic  devotee.  The  Southerner  had  fire  and  genius,  the 
Northerner  had  caution  and  self-control.  The  Northman  was 
fair-haired,  tall,  and  short-headed,  the  Southron  dark-haired, 
short  of  stature,  and  long  in  the  skull. 

In  the  fusion  of  these  two  streams,  each  of  which  had  so 
much  to  give  and  so  much  to  receive,  lies  one  secret  of  the 
Hellenic  people.  It  would  seem  that  the  Northmen  came  as 
invaders,  not  merely  as  immigrants,  into  the  desirable  southern 
peninsulas.  They  came  as  warriors,  and  took  wives  of  the 
old  race,  so  that  the  resulting  mixture  partook  of  the  qualities 
of  both.  But,  as  usual  in  such  cases,  climate  and  environ- 
ment gradually  told,  and  the  type  reverted  in  long  course  of 
time  to  its  original  characteristics.  For  a  little  while  in  the 
filth  century  there  was  a  perfect  amalgam,  and  we  have  a 
people  bold  in  arms,  clean  in  morality,  and  skilful  in  high 

39 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

idealistic  art.  But  soon  the  virile  element  decays,  vigour 
declines  into  indolence,  idealism  into  mere  sensuous  grace  and 
charm,  so  that  while  the  Greeks  never  ceased  to  be  incom- 
parable craftsmen  and  subtle  thinkers,  the  nobler  elements 
which  made  them  artists  and  originators  in  all  departments  of 
intellect  gradually  failed  them. 

These  generalisations  are  supported  by  the  history  of  their 
two  foremost  peoples.  The  Athenians  and  Ionians  always 
claimed  to  be  sons  of  the  soil — that  is,  to  have  received  but  a 
slight  intermixture  of  Northern  blood  ;  hence  they  provide  the 
artists,  the  traders,  and  the  sailors  of  Greece.  The  Spartans, 
on  the  other  hand,  belonged  to  the  Dorian  race,  the  last- 
comers,  and  probably  the  farthest-comers,  or  the  most 
northerly,  of  all  the  invading  peoples.  They  show  us  the 
power  of  discipline,  they  are  the  land-warriors,  they  honour 
old  age,  and  they  do  not  seclude  their  women.  But  as 
foreigners  in  an  alien  land  they  are  the  first  to  decay,  and  their 
fall  is  far  more  sudden  and  complete.  They  give  us  no  art 
but  music  and  lyric  song.  From  this  fact  too  we  get  light 
upon  the  political  conditions  of  Greece.  We  see  why  the 
prevailing  polity  of  Greece,  except  in  Athens  and  the  Ionian 
States,  was  aristocracy  or  oligarchy.  It  explains  the  religion 
of  Greece,  the  strange  mixture  of  celestial  anthropomorphism 
with  chthonic  animism.  In  a  sense,  too,  some  such  fusion  of 
races  represents  the  whole  history  of  Europe.  Again  and 
again  in  history  the  vigorous  races  have  descended  upon  the 
cultured  ones,  and  the  fusion  has  generally  produced  great 
results  until  the  native  element  prevailed.  Such  was  very 
probably  the  secret  of  Roman  greatness.  We  ourselves  in 
our  fusion  of  Celt  and  Saxon  have  a  similar  ethnic  history. 

Homer  and  the  Ach^ans 
One  of  these  Northern  tribes,  the  Achaeans,  are  the  people 
commemorated  in  the  epics  which  go  under  the  name  of 
Homer.  Although,  as  I  have  said,  they  had  an  Olympian 
hierarchy  of  gods,  their  real  devotion  was  given  to  heroes — 
40 


THE  HEROIC  AGE 
that  is,  to  deified  ancestors  of  the  tribe,  whose  graves,  real  or 
imaginary,  were  the  scene  of  sacrifices  and  libations.  One 
such  hero  was  Agamemnon,  who  was  worshipped  at  Sparta 
and  elsewhere.  Another  was  Achilles,  who  had  the  centre  of 
his  cult  in  Phthiotis.  Their  valorous  deeds  were  doubtless 
commemorated  in  ancient  lays.  But  our  Homer  is  not  a 
collection  of  ballads  or  folk-songs.  It  is  a  literary  product  of 
such  finish  and  perfection  as  to  postulate  centuries  of  experi- 
ment in  the  literary  art  and  the  intervention  of  individual 
genius  of  the  very  highest  order.  We  are  forced  to  believe  in 
the  existence  of  a  real  Homer  who  set  himself,  as  Hesiod  did 
in  a  different  sphere,  to  collect  the  praises  of  the  heroes  and 
to  fashion  them  into  immortal  verse,  grouping  the  various 
heroes  into  one  Panhellenic  army  under  the  leadership  of 
Agamemnon  in  a  great  expedition,  probably  an  echo  of  real 
history,  against  the  city  of  Troy.  But  it  is  equally  certain  that 
our  Iliad  and  Odyssey  are  not  the  untouched  composition 
of  a  single  brain.  Not  only  is  the  story  of  the  Iliad  far  too 
incoherent — warriors  killed  in  one  book,  fighting  cheerfully  in 
the  next,  a  huge  wall  and  fosse  round  the  Greek  camp  appear- 
ing and  disappearing  unaccountably ;  not  only  is  the  original 
plot  of  the  Wrath  of  Achilles  forgotten  and  obscured  in  later 
books;  not  only  is  the  Odyssey  in  style  and  diction  visibly 
later  than  the  main  part  of  the  Iliad  ;  but  it  is  possible  to  trace 
a  progressive  variation  in  customs  and  ideas,  with  subsequent 
interpolation  and  expurgation,  throughout.  Both  epics  seem 
to  have  been  translated  out  of  an  original  ^Eolic  version  into 
Ionic  Greek.  And  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  ancients 
applied  the  term  "  Homer"  to  a  vast  body  of  epic  matter  of 
which  our  Iliad  and  Odyssey  are  only  apart.  We  are  forced 
to  conclude  that  many  successive  generations  of  bards  had 
worked  over  the  original  nucleus.  These  Homeridae.or  "  sons 
of  Homer,"  must  have  included  several  men  of  genius  among 
their  number,  but  they  were  all  trained  in  a  noble  school.  They 
were,  as  has  been  said,  hymning  the  praises  of  their  patrons' 
heroic  ancestors — that  is,  they  were  yEolians  telling  the  story  of 

41 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
traditional  Achaean  heroes,  for  the  Achaeans  when  driven  out 
of  their  homes  by  the  Dorian  invaders  bore  the  name  of 
/Eolians  when  they  migrated  to  the  northern  coasts  of  Asia 
Minor.    Probably  the    earliest   Homer  was  writing  in  a 
consciously  antiquarian  spirit  about  heroes  long  ago  ;  certainly 
the  later  writers  were  deliberately  archaising  and  submitting 
to  an  epic  convention.    Thus  the  Dorians,  except  for  a  single 
oversight,  are  studiously  ignored  ;  writing,  coined  money,  and 
sculpture  are  avoided.     Habits  of  ancient  barbarism  like 
human  sacrifice,  poisoned  arrows,  and  the  ill-treatment  of  the 
dead  have  been  carefully  expunged,  though  the  sharp  eye  of 
modern    criticism  can  detect   the  traces   of  expurgation. 
Although  the  heroes  certainly  belonged  to  the  Iron  Age,  they 
are  conventionally  represented  as  "  smiting  with  the  bronze," 
though  iron  is  often  mentioned  also.    All  the  named  heroes, 
being  somebody's  tribal  god  and  somebody's  ancestor,  have 
to  receive  the  title  of  king,  although  in  the  Iliad  they  are 
but  captains  in  Agamemnon's  army.    Possibly  the  earliest 
Homer  lived  under  a  patriarchal  monarchy  ;  certainly,  as  we 
shall  see,  the  authors  of  the  later  parts  were  familiar  with 
oligarchy  or  aristocracy.    The  tradition  is  probably  true  which 
says  that  Homer  was  not  edited  in  our  "  authorised  "  version 
until  the  tyranny  of  Peisistratus  at  Athens  in  the  sixth  century. 

It  follows  that  we  are  not  to  take  the  epic  story  as 
representing  a  chapter  of  the  real  history  of  the  Achaeans 
n  Greece.  If  we  attempted  to  do  so  we  should  constantly 
be  betrayed  by  the  deliberate  archaisms  of  the  epic  con- 
vention. The  utmost  use  to  which  historians  can  put  their 
Homer  is  to  take  the  unconscious  background  of  the  poems 
as  picturing  the  sort  of  civilisation  with  which  writers  of  the 
ninth,  eighth,  and  seventh  centuries  were  familiar.  It  is 
almost  our  only  evidence  for  that  period. 

The  Shield  of  Achilles 
The  description  of  the  shield  of  Achilles  in  the  eighteenth 
book  of  the  Iliad  may  be  selected  as  a  typical  piece  of 
42 


THE  HEROIC  AGE 
unconscious  background.  It  gives  us  a  picture  of  Greek 
life  which  must  be  natural,  since  neither  dramatic  nor  re- 
ligious motives  interfere  to  distort  it.  The  writer  is  clearly 
describing  a  round  shield  with  parallel  bands  of  ornament  such 
as  we  see  in  the  "geometric"  style  of  art  (cf.  p.  56).  The 
pictures  are  conceived  as  inlaid  in  various  metals,  gold,  tin, 
silver,  and  "kuanos,"  or  blue  glass.  For  the  style  in  which  the 
ornamentation  is  conceived  we  may  compare  the  Francois 
Vase*  or  the  Chest  of  Kypselus  as  it  is  described  by 
Pausanias.  But  obviously  an  idealising  poet  in  describing 
such  objects  of  art  permits  his  imagination  to  excel  anything 
that  he  has  ever  seen  or  heard  of.  Besides,  it  was  wrought 
by  the  lame  god  Hephaestus,  and  the  gods  do  not  make  armour 
such  as  you  can  buy  at  the  shop. 

"  First  he  made  a  shield  great  and  mighty,  decorating  it  in 
every  part,  and  round  it  he  threw  a  bright,  threefold,  gleam- 
ing rim,  and  a  silver  baldric  therefrom.  There  were  five 
folds  of  the  shield,  and  on  it  he  set  many  designs  with  skilful 
craftsmanship. 

"On  it  he  wrought  earth  and  sky  and  sea,  and  an 
unwearied  sun  and  a  waxing  moon,  and  on  it  were  all  the 
signs  wherewith  heaven  is  crowned,  the  Pleiades  and  the 
Hyades  and  the  might  of  Orion,  and  the  Bear,  which  they 
surname  the  Wain,  which  revolves  in  the  same  place  and 
watches  Orion,  and  alone  has  no  part  in  the  baths  of  Ocean. 

"  And  on  it  he  put  two  cities  of  mortal  men,  two  fair  cities. 
In  one  there  were  marriages  and  feasts.  They  were  carrying 
the  brides  from  their  chambers  through  the  city  with 
gleaming  torches,  and  loud  rose  the  marriage-songs.  The 
musicians  were  playing,  and  among  them  the  flutes  and 
lyres  made  their  music.  The  women  stood  admiring,  every 
one  at  her  porch  ;  and  the  people  were  crowded  in  the 
market-place.  There  a  strife  had  arisen  :  two  suitors  were 
striving  about  the  price  of  a  man  slain.  One  claimed  to  have 
paid  in  full,  and  he  was  appealing  to  the  people,  but  the  other 
refused  to  take  anything.  So  both  had  hurried  to  have  trial 
before  an  umpire.  Crowds  of  backers  stood  around  each  to 
cheer  them  on,  and  there  were  the  heralds  keeping  the  crowd 

+  Plate  12. 


43 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 


in  order.  The  old  men  sat  upon  polished  stones  in  a  holy 
circle  with  staves  of  loud-voiced  heralds  in  their  hands. 
With  these  they  would  arise  in  turn  to  give  their  judgments. 
There  in  the  midst  lay  two  talents  of  gold  to  give  to  the  man 
who  should  speak  the  most  righteous  sentence  of  them  all. 

"  But  round  the  other  city  two  armies  of  warriors  bright 
in  mail  were  set.  And  there  was  a  division  of  counsel  among 
them  whether  to  destroy  it  utterly  or  to  divide  up  into  two 
shares  all  the  store  that  the  lovely  citadel  contained.  The 
besieged  would  not  yet  yield,  but  were  arming  in  secret  for  an 
ambush.  Their  dear  wives  and  innocent  children  stood  upon 
the  wall  to  guard  it,  and  in  their  company  were  the  men  of 
age.  So  the  warriors  were  marching  out,  and  there  were  their 
leaders,  Ares  and  Pallas  Athene,  golden  both  with  golden  rai- 
ment, both  fair  and  tall,  armed  like  gods,  a  conspicuous  pair,  for 
the  hosts  about  them  were  smaller.  But  when  they  came  to  the 
place  where  they  had  decided  to  make  the  ambush,  in  a  river- 
bed, where  there  was  a  watering-place  for  every  beast,  they 
sat  down  there  wrapped  in  their  shiny  bronze.  Then  some 
way  off  two  scouts  of  the  army  were  posted  to  watch  when 
they  might  see  sheep  and  oxen  with  curling  horns.  And 
there  were  beasts  moving  along,  with  two  herdsmen  following 
that  took  their  pleasure  with  pan-pipes,  for  they  suspected  no 
guile.  But  their  enemy  who  had  watched  them  leapt  upon 
them,  and  swiftly  began  to  hew  about  the  herds  of  kine  and 
fair  fleeces  of  white  sheep,  and  they  slew  the  shepherds  also. 
But  the  besiegers,  when  they  heard  the  din  of  battle  rising 
among  the  kine,  from  their  seats  before  the  tribunes  leapt 
upon  high-stepping  horses  to  pursue,  and  swiftly  they  ap- 
proached. Taking  rank  there  by  the  banks  of  the  river,  they 
fought  and  smote  one  another  with  bronze-tipped  spears,  and 
Strife  mingled  with  them,  and  Kudoimos  the  lover  of  groaning, 
and  ruinous  Fate  was  there  taking  one  man  freshly  wounded 
and  another  without  a  wound  and  another  already  dead  and 
dragging  them  away  by  the  feet  in  the  noise  of  battle,  and 
her  robe  about  her  shoulders  was  dappled  with  the  blood  of 
men.  So  living  men  also  mingled  and  fought  and  dragged 
away  the  bodies  of  their  dead  comrades. 

"  Also  he  wrought  thereon  a  soft  fallow,  a  fat  ploughland, 
a  broad  field  of  three  ploughings.  Many  ploughmen  were 
driving  their  teams  up  and  down  in  it.  And  whenever  they 
came  to  the  baulk  of  the  field  at  the  end  of  their  trun  a  man. 


44 


FIG.  2.     FRAGMENT  OF  SILVER  VASE 

Plate  ix.  (See  p.  38) 


[/■  44 


THE  HEROIC  AGE 


came  forward  with  a 
cup  of  honey-sweet 
wine  in  his  hands  and 
proffered  it.  So  they 
kept  wheeling  among 
the  ridges,  anxious  to 
reach  the  baulk  of  the 
deep  fallow,  which 
grew  dark  behind 
them,  and,  gold  though 
it  was,  looked  as  if  it  had  been  ploughed,  so  very  wondrous 
was  the  craft. 

"There  too  he  put  a  princely  demesne,  wherein  hired 
labourers  were  reaping  with  sharp  sickles  in  their  hands, 
some  swathes  were  falling  thick  and  fast  to  earth  along  the 


furrow,  and  the  binders  were  tying  others  in  bands.  There 
stood  the  three  binders  close  at  hand,  and  behind  ran  the 
gleaner-boys  carrying  the  corn  in  armfuls  and  busy  in 
attendance.  A  king  with  his  sceptre  stood  in  silence  among 
them  on  the  furrow  rejoicing  in  his  heart.  Some  way  oft 
heralds  were  laying  a  feast 


under  an  oak-tree.  They 
had  sacrificed  a  great  ox  and 
were  busy  with  it,  while  the 
women  were  scattering  white 
barley  meal  in  plenty  lor  the 
harvesters'  supper. 

"On  it  also  he  wrought 
a  vineyard  heavy-laden  with 
grapes,  beautifully  wrought 
in  gold.    Up  above  were  the 


Marriage  Procession.    From  a  Pyxis  in 
the  British  Museum 

45 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

black  bunches,  and  the  vineyard  was  set  with  silver  poles 
throughout  ;  round  it  he  drove  a  trench  of  kuanos  and  a  wall 
of  tin  ;  a  single  causeway  led  to  it  whereby  the  pickers 
walked  when  they  gathered  in  the  vintage.  Maids  and 
merry  bachelors  were  carrying  the  honey-sweet  fruit  in  woven 
baskets,  and  in  the  midst  a  boy  played  a  lovely  tune  on  a 
high-pitched  lyre,  singing  thereto  with  his  dainty  voice  a 
sweet  dirge  of  Linus,  while  the  rest  kept  time  with  stamping 
of  feet  and  leaping  and  song  and  shrieking. 

"  On  it  he  made  a  herd  of  straight-horned  oxen.  The  cows 
were  fashioned  of  gold  and  tin  ;  lowing  they  passed  from  the 
midden  to  the  pasture  by  a  plashing  river  by  a  shivering 
reed-bed.  Four  cowherds  of  gold  marched  along  with  the 
kine,  and  nine  white-footed  dogs  followed  them.  But  among 
the  foremost  kine  two  dreadful  lions  were  holding  a  deep- 
voiced  bull.  He  was  being  dragged  away  bellowing  loudly, 
but  the  dogs  and  the  hinds  were  after  him.  The  two  lions 
had  torn  the  hide  of  the  great  bull,  and  were  greedily  de- 
vouring the  entrails  and  the  dark  blood,  while  the  cowherds 
vainly  spurred  on  the  swift  hounds.  But  they,  forsooth,  instead 
of  biting  the  lions,  kept  turning  back  ;  they  would  run  up 
close  to  bark  at  them  and  then  flee  away. 

"  On  it  the  far-famed  Cripple  made  a  sheepfold  in  a  fair 
valley,  a  big  fold  of  white  sheep,  and  steadings  and  huts  and 
roofed-in  pens. 

"  On  it  the  far-famed  Cripple  fashioned  a  dance  like  that 
which  Daedalus  of  old  wrought  in  broad  Cnossos  for  Ariadne 
of  the  lovely  tresses.  Therein  youths  and  maidens  costly 
to  woo  were  dancing,  holding  one  another  by  the  wrist. 
Some  of  the  maids  had  fine  linen  veils,  and  some  had  well- 
woven  tunics  with  faint  gloss  of  oil.  Yea,  they  had  fair 
garlands  on  their  heads,  and  the  men  had  golden  swords 
hanging  from  silver  baldrics.  Sometimes  they  would  trip 
it  lightly  on  tiptoes,  as  when  a  potter  sits  and  tries  the  wheel 
that  fits  between  his  hands  to  see  whether  it  will  run.  But 
sometimes  they  advanced  in  lines  towards  one  another,  and 
a  great  company  stood  round  the  lovely  dance  delighted,  and 
among  them  a  holy  bard  sang  to  his  lyre,  and  among  the 
dancers  two  tumblers  led  the  measure,  twirling  in  the  midst. 

"  And  on  it  he  put  the  great  might  of  the  River  Ocean 
along  the  edge  of  the  rim  of  the  closely  wrought  shield. 

"  So  then  when  he  had  fashioned  a  great  and  mighty  shield 

46 


THE  HEROIC  AGE 

he  fashioned  also  a  hauberk  brighter  than  the  beam  of  fire,  and 
he  fashioned  him  a  strong  helmet,  fitting  the  temples,  richly 
dight,  and  on  it  put  a  crest,  and  he  made  him  greaves  of  pliant 
tin." 

I  trust  that  the  reader  may  be  able  to  catch  some  glimpse 
of  the  picture  even  through  the  bald  prose  of  translation. 
We  are  now  in  Europe  for  certain.  It  might  be  in  Dorset- 
shire or  Bavaria  or  Auvergne  or  Tuscany  that  these  women 
come  to  their  doors  to  watch  the  weddings  go  past,  these 
honest  ploughmen  drain  their  beakers,  and  these  weary 
harvesters  look  forward  to  the  harvest  supper.  To  this  day 
you  may  see  the  peasants  of  Greece  dancing  in  rings  and 
lines,  with  agile  acrobats  to  lead  them,  just  as  they  danced  on 
the  shield  of  Achilles.  History  goes  on  its  pompous  way, 
leaving  the  peasant  unaltered  and  the  ways  of  country  life 
unchanged. 

Kings  and  Gods 
The  poet  even  here,  not  wholly  oblivious  of  the  courtly 
circles  to  whom  he  was  singing,  has,  indeed,  brought  in  a 
"king."  But  it  is  a  poor  sort  of  Basileus  who  stands  there 
among  the  clods  rejoicing  in  his  heart.  He  and  his  ancestral 
sceptre  cut  rather  a  foolish  figure  among 

"The  reapers,  reaping  early 
In  among  the  bearded  barley." 

The  truth  is,  of  course,  that  he's  a  king  in  buckram.  He 
is  only  a  country  squire  with  a  pedigree,  dressed  up  as  a 
Basileus  to  suit  the  convention  of  the  epic.  Such  too  are 
the  "  kings"  of  the  Odyssey.  There  the  story  requires  that 
Odysseus  shall  be  King  of  Ithaca  and  that  his  faithful  wife 
shall  be  maintaining  his  throne  in  his  absence.  But  the 
poet  or  poets  were  so  little  accustomed  to  the  ways  of  kings 
that  they  constantly  forget  the  political  importance  of 
Penelope  and  speak  as  if  it  were  only  a  question  of  the 
jointure  of  a  comely  widow.  Eumaeus  the  swineherd  extols 
the  wealth  of  Odysseus  by  saying  that  no  other  in  Ithaca 

47 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
had  so  much.  They  were  already  in  the  habit  of  regarding 
the  market-place  as  the  political  focus  of  the  State.  So  in 
the  town  of  Scheria  "  King"  Alcinous  goes  forth  daily  to  the 
council  with  the  twelve  other  "renowned  kings."  Odysseus 
their  visitor  prays  that  this  "  king"  and  his  "queen  "  may  be 
so  blessed  by  the  gods  that  they  may  leave  to  their  children 
"  the  substance  in  their  halls,  and  whatever  dues  of  honour 
the  people  have  rendered  unto  him."  And  the  "princess" 
goes  out  in  a  mule-cart  with  the  washing.  On  the  stage 
of  the  epic  the  king  is,  indeed,  a  great  and  mighty  ruler. 
We  are  often  reminded  how  fearful  is  the  wrath  of  kings. 
The  king  says,  according  to  a  quotation  of  Aristotle's,  that 
he  has  power  of  life  and  death.  He  gives  away  cities  that 
do  not  belong  to  him.  He  inherits  "his  sceptre  and  his 
dooms"  from  Zeus  and  a  long  line  of  ancestors.  But  he 
cannot  live  up  to  these  exalted  pretensions.  He  debates 
policy  in  the  market-place  with  the  other  kings  (who  are 
often  called  elders  by  mistake,  though  they  are  young  and 
lusty  as  an  eagle),  and  matters  are  settled  by  the  acclamation 
of  the  masses.  It  is  the  orator  who  sways  the  crowds.  By 
occasional  slips  of  the  tongue  these  divine  kings  are  spoken 
of  as  a  greedy  class,  just  as  they  are  in  Hesiod.  As  for  the 
"dooms"  that  they  receive  by  inspiration  from  Zeus,  they 
make  no  practical  use  of  them.  Justice,  as  we  saw  on  our 
Shield,  is  really  administered  by  the  elders  in  the  agora.  A 
careless  line  of  the  Odyssey  tells  of  "  the  hour  when  a  man 
rises  from  the  assembly  and  goes  home  to  supper,  a  man 
who  judges  the  many  quarrels  of  the  young  men  that  go  to 
him  for  judgment."  There  is  no  single  example  of  a  king 
acting  as  judge  in  Homer,  and  though  the  king  pretends  to 
give  away  cities  he  sometimes  humbly  accepts  the  gift  of  an 
acre  or  two  from  the  citizens  for  services  rendered.  There  is, 
indeed,  one  celebrated  passage  of  the  Iliad  where  monarchy 
is  apparently  extolled  ;  but  the  attentive  reader  will  discern 
that  it  is  in  the  language  not  of  primitive  patriarchal  condi- 
tions, but  of  a  partisan  of  aristocracy  or  tyranny  rebuking  the 
48 


THE  HEROIC  AGE 
presumption  of  radical  demagogy.  It  is  in  the  second  book 
of  the  Iliad.  Agamemnon  had  bidden  the  Greeks  prepare 
for  flight  from  Troy.  It  was  only  a  ruse  to  try  their  temper, 
but  it  succeeded  all  too  well,  for  the  people  hastily  took  him 
at  his  word.  Now  Odysseus  is  bidden  by  the  goddess  Athena 
to  hurry  down  and  stop  them. 

"  He  went  to  meet  Agamemnon,  son  of  Atreus,  and  took 
from  him  his  ancestral  sceptre,  ever  indestructible,  where- 
with he  went  down  to  the  ships  of  the  brazen-shirted 
Achaeans.  Whensoever  he  met  a  king  or  man  of  mark, 
him  he  would  approach  and  check  with  soft  words.  '  Sir,  it 
befits  not  to  terrify  thee  like  a  coward  ;  nay,  sit  thee  down,  and 
make  the  rest  of  the  host  sit  also,  for  thou  knovvest  not  yet 
the  mind  of  the  son  of  Atreus.  Now  he  is  but  trying  the 
sons  of  the  Achaeans ;  soon  he  will  smite  them,  and  mighty 
is  the  wrath  of  god-nurtured  kings.  Honour  is  his  from 
Zeus,  the  Zeus  of  counsel  loves  him.' 

"  But  when  he  saw  a  man  of  the  people  shouting,  him  he 
would  smite  with  his  sceptre  and  chide  with  a  word.  'Sir, 
sit  quiet  and  hear  the  speech  of  others,  who  are  better  than 
thou.  Thou  art  unwarlike  and  cowardly,  thou  art  of  no 
account  in  war  or  in  council.  We  cannot  all  be  kings  here, 
we  Achaeans  ;  many-lordship  is  not  good.  Let  one  be  lord, 
one  king,  to  whomsoever  the  son  of  Kronos  of  crooked 
counsel  has  given  the  sceptre  and  the  dooms  that  he  may  be 
king  among  them.' 

"Thus  he  went  through  the  host,  lording  it;  and  they 
hurried  back  to  the  meeting-place  from  their  ships  and  tents 
with  a  noise  as  when  a  wave  of  the  thundering  sea  crasheth 
on  the  mighty  shore  and  the  deep  resounds. 

"The  others  then  sat  down  and  took  place  on  the  benches, 
but  Thersites  alone  still  brawled  with  unmeasured  words — 
he  who  was  full  of  disorderly  speech  for  idle  and  unseemly 
striving  against  kings. 

"  He  was  the  ugliest  man  that  came  to  Troy.  He  was 
bandy-legged  and  lame,  and  his  two  shoulders  were  humped 
and  cramped  upon  his  breast.  Above,  his  head  was  peaked, 
and  a  scanty  stubble  sprouted  upon  it.  He  was  the  bitterest 
foe  to  Achilles  and  to  Odysseus,  and  ever  they  were  chiding 
him.    Then  too  he  cried  out  shrill  words  of  reproach  against 

d  49 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

divine  Agamemnon.  But  the  Achaeans  were  horribly  wroth 
with  him,  and  hated  him  in  their  hearts.  .  .  . 

"Thus  he  spake  reviling  Agamemnon,  the  shepherd  of  the 
people.  But  divine  Odysseus  quickly  stood  beside  him,  and 
scowling  rebuked  him  with  a  grievous  word.  '  Thersites, 
heedless  of  speech,  shrill  ranter  that  thou  art,  be  still  and 
dare  not  alone  to  strive  with  kings,  for  I  say  that  there  is  no 
creature  worse  than  thou,  of  all  that  came  with  the  sons  of 
Atreus  to  Ilium.'  .  .  . 

"  Thus  he  spake,  and  smote  him  with  his  sceptre  on  the 
midriff  and  the  shoulders.  But  he  hunched  himself  up  and 
a  big  tear  fell  from  him,  and  a  blood-red  weal  rose  up  from 
his  back  under  the  golden  sceptre.  So  he  sat  down  and 
trembled,  looked  helpless,  and  wiped  away  a  tear  in  his 
pain,  and  they,  for  all  their  anger,  laughed  sweetly  at  him. 
And  thus  a  man  would  say,  looking  at  his  neighbour,  4  Lo, 
now !  Verily  Odysseus  hath  done  a  thousand  good  deeds 
both  in  discovering  good  counsel  and  in  leading  the  battle, 
but  now  this  is  far  his  best  deed  among  the  Argives,  in  that 
he  hath  checked  this  word-spattering  maker  of  mischief  from 
his  rantings.  Never  again,  I  ween,  will  his  ambitious  heart 
stir  him  up  to  revile  kings  with  words  of  reproof."' 

Thersites  is  not  a  product  of  simple  undeveloped 
monarchy;  the  poet  who  drew  this  portrait  had  seen  the 
mob-orator  in  his  native  agora.  Thersites,  it  has  been  said, 
is  the  only  private  in  the  army.  He  is  the  only  man  who 
is  named  without  a  patronymic.  And  yet  modern  research 
has  shown  that  even  Thersites  had  an  ancient  cultus  as 
a  demigod  in  Sparta.  So  true  is  it  that  all  the  figures 
of  the  epic  stage  are  figures  of  tribal  ancestor-worship. 

That  is  why  the  real  gods  come  so  badly  out  of  the  epics. 
They  are  the  only  immoral  people  in  Homer ;  they  cheat  and 
lie,  they  smack  and  squabble.  Perhaps  we  do  not  expect 
much  decency  from  Zeus  or  Aphrodite,  but  even  the  stately 
Hera  herself  alternates  between  the  crafty  courtesan  and  the 
scolding  fish-wife.  And  yet  Homer  is  the  "  Bible  of  the 
Greeks  "  !  Herodotus  said,  and  said  truly,  that  it  was  Hesiod 
and  Homer  who  assigned  to  the  gods  their  names,  distributed 
their  honours  and  functions,  and  settled  their  appearance  and 

50 


THE  HEROIC  AGE 
characteristics.  In  after-times  Homer  was  the  universal 
primer  of  education.  It  is  extremely  probable  that  Homer 
and  Hesiod  selected  certain  deities  out  of  a  vast  number  for 
special  honour  as  members  of  the  Olympian  family.  Why  in 
the  world,  then,  did  not  Homer  honour  them  ?  Various 
explanations  have  been  given.  The  old  explanation  was 
that  this  is  the  naive  expression  of  primitive  anthropo- 
morphism, which  makes  gods  in  the  likeness  of  men,  en- 
larging the  human  vices  as  well  as  the  virtues.  But  no  one 
who  really  studies  Homer  can  believe  in  a  theory  which 
makes  him  simple  and  childlike.  Homer's  ridicule  of  the 
gods  is  not  the  unsophisticated  laughter  of  a  child  or  a 
savage.  It  is  to  be  noticed  that  it  is  only  some  of  the  gods 
who  come  badly  out  of  the  Homeric  theology.  No  figure 
could  be  lovelier  than  that  of  the  sea-goddess,  Thetis,  or 
more  dignified  than  Pallas  Athene,  or  more  ethereal  than 
Iris,  the  ambassadress  of  heaven.  Professor  Ridgeway's  belief 
that  Homer  was  written  by  a  bard  of  the  old  race  honouring 
his  Achaean  masters  might  explain  the  mordant  raillery  of 
Northern  gods  like  Zeus  and  Hera.  But  then  Aphrodite,  who 
is  the  worst  treated  of  all,  would  seem  to  be  actually  the 
Nature-goddess  of  Crete,  ever  accompanied  with  doves  in 
Cretan  art.  It  is  just  the  ^Egean  naturalism  which  is  ex- 
cluded from  Homeric  religion.  There  is  nothing  to  connect 
even  Iris  with  the  rainbow.  My  own  explanation  would  be 
that  hero-worship  is  Homer's  main  concern.  So  many  of  his 
heroes  claim  descent  from  Zeus  by  so  many  mothers  that 
Zeus  cannot  be  endowed  with  monogamic  morality.  The 
gods  can  look  after  themselves  ;  it  is  the  heroes  who  require 
the  assistance  of  the  bard.  I  believe,  too,  in  Professor 
Gilbert  Murray's  suggestion  that  in  these  passages  of  impiety 
we  have  the  intervention  of  the  later  Ionic  spirit  of  rationalism. 
As  such  passages  are  widely  diffused  over  the  Iliad  we  should 
have  to  place  the  composition  of  a  considerable  part  of 
it  so  late  as  the  eighth  and  seventh  century  before  Christ. 
But  as  we  have  seen  that  the  political  background  of  Homer 

5' 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
is  in  the  main  a  scene  of  aristocracy,  precisely  such  as  we 
have  in  the  seventh-century  poet  Hesiod,  there  is  no  real 
objection  to  a  late  dating. 

Once  you  abandon  the  absurd  belief  in  Homer's  "primitive 
simplicity "  and  admit,  what  is  now  certain,  that  the  epic 
poets  could  consciously  archaise  their  story,  omitting  all 
reference  to  events  and  customs  which  seemed  to  them  too 
modern  to  fit  in  with  the  divine  race  of  heroes,  just  as  Malory 
does  with  the  Arthurian  knights,  there  is  no  objection  to 
believing  that  large  parts  of  Homer  were  written  in  the 
eighth  century.  Of  course,  there  are  much  older  traditions 
and  older  fragments  of  epic  poetry  embedded  in  our  Iliad  and 
Odyssey.  No  real  violence  is  done  to  ancient  tradition  by 
bringing  these  poems  down  to  the  verge  of  historical  times, 
for  Homer  and  Hesiod  were  generally  regarded  as  con- 
temporaries in  antiquity.  All  the  civilisation  depicted  in 
Homer  is  far  closer  to  that  of  historical  Greece  than  to  that 
of  the  JEgean  excavations.  Take  the  armour  for  another 
example.  Although,  as  has  been  said,  the  heroes  generally 
"smite  with  the  bronze"  and  their  shields  are  sometimes 
"like  a  tower"  and  "reaching  to  the  feet"  and  "girding  the 
body,"  as  on  the  monuments  of  Mycenae  and  Crete,  yet  in 
the  ordinary  thought  of  the  poets  the  swords  are  undoubtedly 
of  iron,  since  the  cut  is  commoner  than  the  thrust  and  you  do 
not  cut  with  a  sword  of  bronze,  and  the  shields  are  "  circular," 
"equal  everyway,"  "  bossed,"  and  "like  the  moon."  Some- 
times, as  in  the  case  of  the  shield  of  Achilles,  or  the  shield 
of  Agamemnon,  they  are  adorned  with  a  blazon.  In  fact, 
the  Homeric  warrior  is  dressed  and  equipped  exactly  like  the 
hoplite  of  Greek  history.  As  regards  his  methods  of  fighting, 
the  epic  convention  naturally  requires  a  series  of  duels  in 
order  to  show  the  individual  prowess  of  the  heroes;  and, 
indeed,  the  various  episodes  of  the  Iliad  are  labelled  as  "The 
Prowess  of  Diomede,"  "  The  Prowess  of  Menelaus,"  and  so 
forth.  But  at  the  back  of  the  poet's  mind  there  constantly 
appears  an  ordinary  Greek  combat  between  two  lines  of 

52 


THE  HEROIC  AGE 
warriors.  Agamemnon  once  divides  the  host  up  into  com- 
panies, tribe  with  tribe  and  brotherhood  with  brotherhood. 
Finally,  by  placing  Homer  late,  in  the  flourishing  culture  of 
JEoYis  and  Ionia,  we  avoid  the  absurdity  of  supposing  that  a 
literary  form  so  exquisite  and  elaborate  as  the  epic  should 
have  sprung  out  of  nothing  in  times  of  violent  unrest,  of 
invasions,  migrations,  and  ceaseless  strife.  A  priori  any  one 
would  say  that  lyric  poetry  must  precede  epic,  as  it  has  done 
in  England.  Greek  tradition  places  Orpheus,  the  father  of 
lyric  song,  before  Homer.  There  would  be  nothing  sur- 
prising in  placing  the  early  elegiac  poetry  on  the  same 
chronological  level  as  the  earliest  hexameters.  That  the 
ordinary  forms  of  lyric  verse  already  existed  in  Homeric 
times  we  can  see,  if  we  read  the  poems  attentively.  The  boy 
sings  his  vintage  song  of  the  death  of  Linus.  At  the  burial 
of  Hector  there  are  bards  to  sing  dirges.  There  is  reference 
to  the  Hymenaeus,  or  wedding-song.  There  were  banquet 
songs  too:  in  the  First  Iliad  they  sing  all  day  long  over  their 
cups.  Bards  like  Demodocus  sing  of  the  loves  of  the  gods. 
Thus  there  is  ample  evidence  that  all  the  common  forms  of 
Greek  lyric  poetry  preceded  the  epic,  and  that  Homer  did  not 
spring  into  existence  ready-made  out  of  the  void.  Still  less 
did  the  Achaean  invaders  from  the  cold  North  import  a 
finished  literary  form  of  composition  into  the  civilised 
peninsulas  of  the  Mediterranean. 

Art  of  the  Epic  Period 
And  now  the  question  arises  as  to  what  sort  of  art  we  are 
to  match  with  the  poetry  of  Homer.  It  was  the  desire  to 
give  some  literary  equivalent  for  the  glorious  art  of  Mycenae 
and  Cnossos  which  led  Schliemann  and  his  school  to  equate  it 
with  Homer.  Doubtless  prehistoric  Crete  had  its  literature. 
But  that  has  all  perished,  unless  the  undecipherable  written 
tablets  should  chance  to  yield  us  something.  We  must 
realise  that  great  literature  can  coexist  with  crude  art.  There 
is  no  great  art  in  England  to  correspond  with  Shakespeare, 

53 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
Milton,  or  Shelley.  Language  being  the  easiest  medium  of 
artistic  expression,  literature  commonly  develops  earlier 
than  the  graphic  or  plastic  arts.  We  must  therefore  be 
prepared  for  the  shock  of  finding  that  Homer  belongs  to  the 
same  period  as  a  very  ugly  and  inartistic  decorative  style  on 
the  vases  and  most  rudimentary  and  primitive  forms  of 
statuary.  The  pages  of  Homer  do  not  really  lead  us  to 
expect  anything  else.  Sculpture  is  scarcely  mentioned  in 
Homer.  There  is  only  one  temple  statue,  and  that  is  the 
statue  of  Athena  at  Troy,  of  which  we  are  told  that  the 
Trojan  women  used  to  lay  a  richly  embroidered  robe  upon 
its  knees.  We  are  probably,  then,  to  conceive  a  rude  seated 
figure  of  wood  or  stone  such  as  we  find  at  the  earliest  stages 
of  Greek  sculpture.  Their  roughness  and  rudeness  might  be 
mitigated  by  coverings  of  embroidery.  At  Branchidae,  near 
Miletus,  a  whole  series  of  such  figures  was  discovered, 
dedicated  with  writing  of  about  550  B.C.  ;  but  we  can  easily 
believe  that  such  a  type  might  persist  for  more  than  a  century. 
It  is  believed  that  this  type  of  statue  has  been  evolved  from 
the  throne,  for  it  appears  certain  that  empty  thrones  were 
worshipped  before  iconic  deities  were  carved.  One  can  see 
also  that  it  is  only  lately  derived  from  a  technique  of  wood, 
so  flat  are  the  planes  of  its  surface.  The  goddess  belongs  to 
the  chair  rather  than  the  chair  to  the  goddess. 

Beyond  this  there  are  some  obviously  imaginary  figures  in 
Homer,  such  as  the  golden  torch-bearers  in  the  fairyland  of 
Phaeacia,  but  nothing  that  we  can  call  sculpture.  Also  there 
are  many  minor  "objects  of  virtue,"  such  as  the  drinking-cup 
of  Nestor  and  the  brooch  of  Odysseus,  some  of  which  maybe 
matched  by  the  relics  of  the  Mycenaean  tombs  ;  but  of  course 
cups  and  jewels  of  gold  were  still  preserved  from  the  older 
civilisation,  and  notably  enough  such  objects  are  always 
accounted  for :  either  Hephaestus  has  wrought  them,  or  they 
have  been  handed  down  as  heirlooms,  or  brought  by  the 
Sidonians  over  the  sea.  Homer  does  not  take  his  art  for 
granted.  He  uses  the  potter's  wheel  in  similes,  but  the  only 
54 


THE  HEROIC  AGE 
art  he  really  describes  is  that  of  tapestry-weaving,  the 
domestic  art  carried  on  by  all  his  ladies.    Thus  Helen 
employs  herself  at  Troy  in  weaving  figures  of  warriors  into 


Seated  Statue  from  Branchidae 


her  web,  and  Andromache  weaves  flowers  into  hers.  What 
pattern  Penelope  wove  into  her  everlasting  shroud  is  known 
only  to  those  who  know  what  song  the  sirens  sang.  Appro- 
priate to  this  prominence  of  the  textile  art  is  the  style  of 
ornamentation  described,  as  we  have  read,  upon  the  shield 
of  Achilles.    For  these  parallel  bands  of  picture-writing 

55 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

which  were  in  the  poet's  mind  when  he  depicted  the  shield 
are  known  to  us  in  the  pottery  of  the  seventh  and  sixth 
centuries.    It  is  called  by  modern  archaeologists  the  Geometric 

style,  because  the  whole  body 
of  the  vase  is  divided  into 
bands  and  panels  by  strips  of 
zigzag  ornament.  An  early 
phase  of  the  Geometric  style 
is  specially  named  after  the 
Dipylon  Gate  at  Athens,  be- 
cause huge  vases  of  a  certain 
type  were  found  in  great  num- 
bers in  the  ancient  cemetery 
of  Athens  in  that  neighbour- 
hood. The  subject  of  these 
vases  is  generally  funereal. 
We  see  the  body  laid  out 
upon  the  bier  and  the 
mourners  indicating  their 
grief  by  laying  their  hands 
upon  their  heads.  The 
figures  are  rendered  in  con- 
ventional diagrams.    To  my 

Geometric  Vase  taste  theY  are  alm0St  rePul- 

sive.  Not  only  is  the  draw- 
ing of  the  figures  careless  and  clumsy,  but  the  spirit  of  the 
whole  thing  is  ugly.  The  fidgety  nerves  of  the  artist  trying 
to  fill  every  corner  with  some  sort  of  scrawl,  scraping  meaning- 
less emblems  even  between  the  legs  of  his  horses,  wearies  the 
eye  of  the  spectator.  His  designs  have  no  correspondence 
whatever  with  the  form  of  his  material,  any  more  than  the 
modern  house-decorator's  friezes  and  dados  properly  belong 
to  the  four  flat  surfaces  of  his  walls.  The  vital  qualities  of 
good  Greek  art  are  self-control,  the  subordination  of  the 
artist  to  his  work,  and  the  perfect  adaptation  of  the  artistic 
form  to  the  subject  under  treatment.  The  Dipylon  Style 
56 


THE  HEROIC  AGE 
does  violence  to  all  these  canons  of  good  taste.    There  must 
be  an  explanation. 

It  is  easy  to  see  that  the  ornamentation  of  a  Dipylon  vase 
is  borrowed  from  an  alien  technique.  Pottery  never  required 
the  artist  to  divide  his  field  up  into  parallel  bands  with 
borders  and  fringes.  It  is  clearly  from  needlework,  em- 
broidery, or  tapestry  that  this  style  is  borrowed.  You  can  see 
the  stitches  and  the  threads  in  many  of  the  patterns.  Primitive 
tapestry  is  necessarily  linear,  geometrical,  and  rectangular. 

Now  the  whole  thing  becomes  clear.  Greece  is  dominated 
by  a  masculine  race  of  warriors  inartistic  by  ancestral 
tradition.  Music  they  have  always  loved.  They  are 
generous  patrons  to  the  bard  who  sings  the  praises  of  their 
ancestors.  They  like  a  prettily  designed  brooch  or  golden 
cup.  But  there  are  no  patrons  for  the  other  arts.  While 
their  lords  are  fighting  hard  and  drinking  deep  the  women 
are  perpetually  at  their  looms.  The  only  arts  that  flourish 
are  the  textile  arts,  and  they  are  largely  modelled  on  Asiatic 
imported  fabrics.  The  potter  is  a  wretched,  despised  slave, 
probably  of  the  old  race.  He  has  lost  all  his  manhood  and 
most  of  his  taste,  he  gets  no  encouragement  to  make  his 
cheap  pots  beautiful,  and  he  has  no  models  for  design  except 
the  patterns  of  tapestry  or  metalwork.  All  the  beautiful 
earthenware  of  Cnossos  and  Kamares  is  broken  or  buried 
under  the  ground. 

Yet  even  the  Dipylon  style  gradually  improved.  While 
still  retaining  its  Geometric  character,  vase-painting  improves 
in  drawing  and  colour,  until  in  early  Attic  work  like  the 
famous  Francois  vase  *  we  reach  designs  of  considerable 
beauty.  Here  the  horse  becomes  the  favourite  animal  type. 
When  the  potters  advance  far  enough  they  begin  to  deal  with 
scenes  of  heroic  legend  and  mythology,  carefully  labelling 
their  heroes  with  their  names.  The  Gorgon,  which  often 
figures  in  Homer,  as  on  the  shield  of  Agamemnon  and  the 
aegis  of  Athene,  begins  to  be  an  art  type  in  the  Dipylon 

♦  Plate  13. 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
period  ;  so  do  the  sphinx  and  griffin,  which,  curiously  enough, 
do  not  appear  in  our  Homer. 

The  Hero's  Home 

In  Crete  art  dwelt  in  palaces ;  in  classical  Greece  it 
haunted  the  market-place  and  the  temple.  For  the  present 
art  is  confined  to  the  home.  If  we  may  judge  by  the 
charming  "interior"  pictures  which  Homer  most  skilfully 
introduces  as  a  counterfoil  to  the  everlasting  clash  of  arms 
in  the  Iliad,  domestic  life  was  at  its  richest  and  best  in  the 
age  of  the  epics.  Every  one  has  been  struck  with  the 
dignified  and  important  part  played  by  women  in  Homer, 
contrasted  with  their  seclusion  and  neglect  in  historical 
Greece.  No  one  but  Shakespeare  has  given  us  so  charming 
a  series  of  feminine  portraits  as  Andromache,  Helen,  Pene- 
lope, Nausicaa,  Thetis,  and  Calypso.  The  ingenious  Samuel 
Butler  actually  attempted  to  prove  that  the  Odyssey  was 
written  by  a  woman,  so  sympathetic  is  the  poet's  insight  into 
the  feminine  point  of  view.  But  the  same  is  equally  true  of 
the  Iliad;  and,  indeed,  the  respect  for  women  becomes  part 
of  the  heroic  tradition  even  in  Attic  tragedy,  so  that  the 
audience  in  the  theatre  of  Athens  must  have  seen  the  heroines 
on  their  stage  acting  with  a  freedom  and  treated  with  a 
deference  which  was  quite  alien  to  their  own  homes. 

But  even  at  this,  its  highest  point,  the  domesticity  of 
Greek  life  falls  far  short  of  modern  ideas,  and  the  dignity  of 
the  heroes'  wives  is  somewhat  illusory.  Possibly  the  in- 
consistencies are  due  once  more  to  the  many  hands  and  many 
successive  generations  which  have  had  their  part  in  building 
up  the  epic.  Certainly,  for  monogamists,  the  matrimonial 
ideas  of  the  heroes  are  far  from  exclusive.  Agamemnon 
announces  his  intention  of  taking  Chryseis  home,  for  he  likes 
her  better  than  his  dear  wife  Clytaemnestra,  and  makes  no 
secret  of  the  position  she  is  to  occupy.  He  does  actually  take 
Cassandra  home  to  his  wife.  In  the  Odyssey,  too,  we  get  a 
hint  of  arrangements  decidedly  Oriental  in  what  Penelope 
58 


THE  HEROIC  AGE 
says  about  her  son  and  the  fifty  handmaidens.  Again,  there 
is  a  singular  contrast  between  the  tender  conjugal  devotion 
of  Hector  and  Andromache,  or  Odysseus  and  Penelope,  and 
the  extraordinary  callousness  sometimes  indicated  with  regard 
to  feminine  charms.  It  is  often  remarked  as  an  instance  of 
Homer's  subtlety  that  he  nowhere  describes  the  beauty  of 
Helen,  whose  face 

"  Launched  a  thousand  ships 
And  shook  the  topless  towers  of  Ilium," 

only  indicating  it  by  making  the  old  men  of  Troy  look  at  her 
as  she  walks  past  and  say  to  one  another,  "  No  wonder  that 
the  Greeks  and  Trojans  should  suffer  pain  so  long  for  such  a 
woman.  Her  countenance  is  wondrous  like  the  immortal 
goddesses."  These  traditions  of  the  power  of  love  and 
beauty  must  belong  to  the  original  epic  story  ;  for  the  whole 
plot  of  the  Iliad,  so  far  as  it  has  a  plot,  turns  on  the  beauty 
of  Helen,  as  the  whole  plot  of  the  Odyssey  depends  on  the 
love  of  Odysseus  for  his  wife  and  the  constancy  of  Penelope. 
Thus  both  epics  have  a  basis  which  might  be  the  foundation 
of  modern  romantic  fiction.  Nevertheless,  the  spirit  of 
romance  is  as  completely  absent  from  Homer  as  it  is  from  all 
true  Greek  art  and  literature.  Though  Agamemnon  is  very 
angry  at  losing  Chryseis  he  has  no  love  for  her.  Odysseus 
simply  gets  tired  of  the  lovely  nymph  Calypso,  and  parts  from 
the  charming  Nausicaa  without  a  pang.  Such  shocks  as 
these  are  constantly  in  store  for  the  modern  reader,  who  is 
fed  upon  romance  in  the  nursery. 

If  we  look  at  the  houses  in  which  the  domestic  scenes  of 
Homer  are  set  we  shall  find  that  they  are  of  a  simplicity  in 
strong  contrast  with  the  elaborate  palaces  of  Crete  or  Tiryns  ; 
and  this  in  spite  of  the  obvious  intention  of  the  bard  to  depict 
them  on  a  scale  of  heroic  magnificence.  They  are  mainly 
built  of  wood.  The  palace  of  Paris  consists  of  three  parts — 
thalamos,  doma,  and  utile.  The  thalamos  is  the  private  part  of 
the  house,  and  contains  the  marriage-bed  of  the  royal  couple. 
The  doma,  or  megaron,  is  the  public  hall  for  meals  and 

59 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

receptions.  The  aule  is  the  court  with  colonnades  surrounding 
it.  Priam  had  a  large  family  :  fifty  sons  slept  with  their  wives 
in  fifty  thalamoi  of  polished  stone  built  outside  his  court,  while 
his  daughters  slept  with  their  husbands  in  twelve  roofed 
chambers  within  the  court.  The  palace  of  Odysseus  is  more 
elaborate,  and  is  so  intended,  for  the  disguised  wanderer  says  : 
"Verily,  this  is  the  fair  house  of  Odysseus,  and  easily  may  it 
be  known  and  distinguished  even  among  many.  For  there 
is  building  beyond  building,  and  the  court  of  the  house  is 
cunningly  wrought  with  a  wall  and  copings,  and  there  are 
well-fitting  double  doors."  Standing  outside  the  front  door 
he  can  perceive  by  the  smell  of  roast  meat  that  there  is  a 
banquet  going  on.  No  great  magnificence  here.  In  front  of 
the  "  well-fitting  doors  "  there  is  a  heap  of  manure,  with  an 
aged  hound  asleep  upon  it  (a  similar  dung-heap,  it  may  be 
remarked,  graces  the  court  of  the  palace  of  Priam  in  Troy 
City).  Inside  the  doors  there  is  the  megaron,  where  the 
banquet  is  going  on.  Odysseus  sits  down  on  the  ashen 
threshold,  leaning  against  a  pillar  of  cypress  wood,  specially 
commended  for  its  straightness.  Telemachus  takes  a  lump 
of  meat,  "as  much  as  his  two  hands  can  grasp,"  and  a  whole 
loaf  out  of  the  fair  basket,  and  Odysseus  (who  is  disguised 
as  a  beggar)  devours  it  on  his  dirty  wallet  as  he  sits  on  the 
threshold.  This  threshold  under  the  portico  of  the  hall  is 
the  regular  meeting-place  of  beggars,  and  it  is  there  that 
strangers  are  put  to  sleep.  Within  the  hall  there  is  an  upper 
chamber  where  Penelope  sleeps  and  lives  with  her  maidens. 
The  wooers  set  up  three  braziers  in  the  hall  to  give  them 
light,  and  heap  them  with  wood  and  pine-brands  ;  conse- 
quently the  hall  is  so  full  of  smoke  that  the  weapons  have  to 
be  removed  to  a  storeroom  to  keep  them  useful.  Odysseus, 
sleeping  in  the  "prodomos"  of  the  hall,  can  hear  a  remark 
made  by  one  of  the  twelve  grinding-women  who  have  their 
hand-mills  in  the  house  next  door.  Under  the  same  echoing- 
colonnade  where  Odysseus  sleeps  goats  and  cattle  are 
tethered  by  day.  The  walls  of  the  hall  itself  are  of  wood, 
60 


THE  HEROIC  AGE 
the  ceiling  is  of  wood,  and  the  floor  is  of  stamped  earth,  for 
it  is  cleaned  with  a  spade,  and  fires  are  raked  out  of  the 
braziers  on  to  the  floor.  As  for  the  bridal  chamber,  Odysseus 
had  built  it  himself  with  stone,  and  it  contained  a  marvellous 
bed  wrought  by  the  hero  out  of  a  living  olive-tree.  Finally, 
there  was  a  rather  obscure  postern-gate  set  high  in  the  wall 
of  the  hall  above  a  stone  threshold,  and  opening  on  to  an 
open  gallery.  Thus  the  feature  of  the  house  of  Odysseus  is 
that  it  is  of  two  stories  ;  otherwise  it  consists,  as  usual,  of  three 
parts — hall,  court,  and  chamber. 

Our  learned  archaeologists  have  been  setting  their 
intellects  to  the  task  of  making  these  Homeric  houses  fit  in 
with  the  palaces  of  Mycenae  and  Tiryns,  but  they  have  found 
it  hard  work.  They  have  had  to  admit  that  the  palace  of 
Odysseus  is  a  good  deal  simpler  than  the  meanest  of  the 
vEgean  palaces.  And  yet  our  poet  has  deliberately  advertised 
it  as  something  out  of  the  common.  Does  not  that  betray 
singular  poverty  of  imagination  ?  He  could  not  even  make 
his  heroic  domiciles  as  splendid  as  the  actual  buildings  in 
which  he  sang  his  lays.  What  should  we  think  of  a  novelist 
who  professed  to  write  about  duchesses  and  described 
them  as  sitting  in  sumptuous  front  parlours  ?  Surely  we 
know  the  explanation.  It  is  hopeless  to  attempt  to  syn- 
chronise the  Homeric  age  with  the  ages  of  JEgean  palaces. 
Homer  lived  in  an  altogether  lower  civilisation  as  regards 
wealth  and  comfort.  Just  as  we  saw  that  his  "  kings"  were 
only  country  squires,  so  his  "  palaces  "  are  no  more  than 
farmhouses,  with  all  their  picturesque  squalor  and  simplicity. 
Dirt  and  magnificence  may  go  hand  in  hand,  as  in  our  own 
mediaeval  halls,  but  in  the  Homeric  civilisation  the  magnifi- 
cence is  only  in  the  poet's  heart.  His  material  surroundings 
are  fitly  typified  by  the  Dipylon  vases. 

Hesiod's  World 
Hesiod  is  the  Cinderella  of  Greek  poets,  neglected  alike 
by  editors  and  schoolboys.    And  yet  once  he  stood  on  a  level 

61 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
with  Homer.  He  is  in  reality  the  complement  of  Homer, 
and  no  picture  of  the  Greek  Middle  Ages  can  be  complete 
without  him.  The  Parian  Marble  sets  Hesiod  thirty  years 
earlier  than  Homer,  Herodotus  places  them  both  about  850- 
800  B.C.  Hesiod's  principal  works  are  two,  the  "  Works  and 
Days"  and  the  "Generations  of  Gods"  or  "  Theogony." 
The  "  Works  and  Days "  is  generally  supposed  to  be  a 
treatise  on  husbandry,  but  it  seems  to  be  in  origin  a  letter  of 
remonstrance  to  a  wicked  brother,  Perses,  who  had  ousted 
Hesiod  from  his  property.  The  letter  is  embroidered  freely 
with  morals,  maxims,  and  examples  from  mythology.  Perses 
is  exhorted  to  practise  industry  and  good  farming,  for  which 
some  proverbial  hints  are  given.  But  the  main  purport  of 
this  curious  jumble  is  the  reiteration  of  complaints  against  the 
"bribe-devouring  kings" — always  in  the  plural — who  have 
given  a  corrupt  judgment  against  the  poet  on  his  brother's 
lawsuit.  No  one  pretends  to  see  real  monarchy  or  anything 
but  oligarchy  in  Hesiod,  yet  his  rulers  are  called  /iWtXtt?,  just 
as  are  Homer's.  The  "  Works  and  Days  "  contains  also  the 
earliest  versions  of  two  most  famous  legends  which  together 
make  up  the  Greek  story  of  creation,  the  story  of  how 
Prometheus  stole  fire  from  heaven  and  the  story  of  Pandora, 
the  Eve  of  Greek  mythology.  The  chief  interest  for  modern 
readers  lies  in  a  very  quaint  and  curious  list  of  taboos  and 
some  personal  reminiscences  which  form,  I  suppose,  the 
oldest  piece  of  autobiography  in  existence.  He  has  already 
described  seafaring  as  a  very  disagreeable  business,  to  be 
avoided  if  possible  ;  he  now  advises  his  brother  to  "  wait  for  a 
seasonable  sailing  day,  and  when  it  comes,  then  drag  down 
thy  swift  ship  to  the  sea,  and  have  a  fit  cargo  stowed  away  on  it, 
that  thou  mayest  return  home  with  profit ;  even  as  my  father 
and  thine,  most  witless  Perses,  used  to  make  voyages  for  an 
honest  living.  Once  he  came  even  to  this  country,  after  a 
long  voyage  in  a  black  ship  from  Cyme,  in  /Eolis,  turning  not 
from  rich  resources  and  prosperity,  but  from  dire  poverty,  which 
Zeus  gives  to  men.  And  he  dwelt  near  Helicon  in  this 
62 


THE  HEROIC  AGE 
beggarly  hamlet  of  Ascra— Ascra,  vile  in  winter,  uncomfortable 
in  summer,  and  good  never  at  all.  But  do  thou,  my  Perses, 
be  seasonable  in  all  thy  doings,  but  above  all  in  seafaring 
praise  a  small  ship,  but  put  thy  cargo  in  a  great  one.  The 
freight  will  be  greater  and  the  profit  greater  if  the  winds  keep 
off  their  dreadful  storms.  Whenever  thou  turnest  thy  rash  heart 
to  trade,  wishing  to  escape  debt  and  joyless  famine,  I  will 
show  thee  the  limits  of  the  thundering  main  without  being 
skilled  at  all  in  seafaring  or  in  ships,  for  I  have  never  sailed 


Coin  of  Crotoo,  showing  Tripod 


the  broad  sea  in  a  ship  except  when  I  crossed  to  Eubcea 
from  Aulis,  where  the  Achaeans  in  times  long  past  were  storm- 
bound when  they  gathered  a  mighty  host  from  holy  Hellas 
for  Troy  of  the  fair  women.  There  did  I  take  passage  for 
Chalcis  to  try  for  the  prizes  of  wise  Amphidamas  "  {i.e.  prizes 
offered  at  his  funeral  games),  "the  many  well-prepared  prizes 
which  his  lordly  sons  offered.  There  I  boast  to  have  won  the 
prize  for  the  hymn,  and  brought  home  a  tripod  with  handles 
which  I  set  up  to  the  Muses  of  Helicon  where  first  they  taught 
me  to  be  a  clear-voiced  bard.  So  little  trial  have  I  made  of 
well-caulked  ships,  but  still  I  shall  declare  the  mind  of  Zeus 
who  bears  the  aegis,  for  the  Muses  have  taught  me  to  sing  a 
hymn  without  bounds. " 

Quaint  old  Hesiod  !  How  like  the  literary  man  of  all  ages  ! 
He  has  never  been  to  sea  except  on  the  channel  ferry,  but  in 
virtue  of  his  literary  gifts  he  is  competent  to  instruct  other 
landsmen  in  navigation.  So  by  help  of  the  Muses  he  declares 
the  mind  of  Zeus — "  Never  put  to  sea  in  a  storm  !  " 

Well,  this  is  the  reverse  of  Homer's  medal :    the  god- 

63 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
nurtured  kings  frankly  revealed  as  corrupt  nobles,  the  un- 
relenting toil  on  the  stony  farm,  the  perilous  commercial 
enterprises  in  small  unseaworthy  ships,  the  emigrant  returning 
home  to  Bceotia  in  poverty  from  his  Eldorado  in  ^Eolis,  the 
superstition,  and  the  pessimism. 


Ship  of  Odysseus.   From  a  Vase 


64 


Ill 

THE  AGES  OF  TRANSITION 


ov  firjv  oW  inapxovTov  rovrmv  6\iravTU>v  fj&r)  trdXir, 
SW  f)  tov  tv  %T)V  KOivmvla. — ARISTOTLE. 


The  Coming  of  Apollo 

E  bringeth  to  men  and  women 
cures  for  their  grievous  sick- 
nesses, he  giveth  the  harp,  and 
he  granteth  the  Muse  to  whom- 
soever he  will ;  he  ruleth  his 
oracular  shrine,  bringing  peace 
and  lawful  order  into  our  hearts  ; 
he  stablished  the  descendants 
of  Heracles  and  yEgimius  In 
Lacedsemon  and  Argos  and 
most  holy  Pylos."  Such  is  the  Theban  poet's  summary  of 
the  attributes  of  the  Dorian  god.  Healing,  harp-music  and 
lyric  poetry,  discipline  fostered  by  the  Delphic  oracle,  and 
the  Dorian  government  of  Sparta,  Argos,  and  Messenia — 
these  are  the  gifts  of  Apollo  to  Greece.  There  is  nothing 
here  to  connect  him  with  Nature-worship.  He  is  not  even 
connected  with  light  or  sun. 

We  have  already  seen  something  of  the  earliest  strata  of 
religious  beliefs  on  Greek  soil.  The  yEgean  worship  was 
principally  "aniconic  fetishism" — that  is,  the  worship  of  in- 
animate, possibly  symbolical,  objects,  such  as  stones,  pillars, 
crosses,  axes,  horns,  and  trees.    Then  there  were  animal 

65 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
deities,  possibly  totemistic  in  origin,  such  as  the  snake- 
goddess,  the  dove-goddess,  and  the  bull-man,  or  Minotaur, 
powers  mainly  representing  fecundity.  There  was  certainly 
also  ghost-worship  ;  for  the  dead  in  the  tholos  tombs  were 
certainly  honoured  by  sacrifices,  and  very  likely  by  human 
sacrifices  at  first.  There  seem  to  have  been  no  temples  at  all 
in  these  stages  of  religion  ;  it  was  rather  a  system  of  private 
local  cults  in  great  and  bewildering  variety.  But  it  is 
certain  that  the  ^Egean  peoples  had  developed  some  wholly 
anthropomorphic  deities  before  the  end.  Some  of  the  regular 
Olympian  deities  of  historical  Greece  seem  to  belong  partially, 
and  some  wholly,  to  this  earlier  civilisation.  Poseidon,  the 
sea-god,  Hermes,  the  Arcadian  shepherd-god,  and  Demeter 
or  Mother  Earth,  are  of  the  latter  class,  with  mysterious  forms 
like  the  Fates,  the  Curses,  the  Harpies,  and  the  Sirens.  But 
there  was  little  exclusiveness  about  ancient  religion  ;  new 
deities  are  quite  readily  accepted  into  polytheistic  systems, 
though  in  some  cases  there  was  a  protracted  struggle  to  keep 
them  out.  Hesiod  remarks  that  the  deities  have  many 
names  for  a  single  shape,  and  often  a  double  name  reveals 
assimilation,  such  as  Phcebus  Apollo  or  Pallas  Athene.  In 
most  cases,  indeed,  the  great  name  of  an  Olympian  god 
covers  a  host  of  minor  deities  with  varying  and  sometimes 
quite  opposite  attributes.  Thus  the  national  Zeus  has 
swallowed  up  countless  local  heroes,  as  when  the  Laconians 
worshipped  Zeus  Agamemnon. 

All  these  processes  of  change  are  reflected  in  mythology. 
It  would  seem  as  if  mythologists,  or,  as  we  should  say,  expert  - 
theologians,  set  out  to  reconcile  the  people  to  new  forms  of 
worship  by  inventing  delightful  stories  to  account  for  the 
change.  Homer  and  Hesiod  were  doing  precisely  that  sort 
of  work.  For  example,  the  introduction  of  the  Northern 
Zeus  was  effected  by  means  of  a  curious  myth.  It  was 
agreed  that  he  had  not  always  been  King  of  Heaven  ;  formerly 
his  old  father  Cronos  had  ruled,  he  whose  wife  was  the 
earth.  Zeus  was  born  in  Crete — that  is,  he  was  attached  to 
66 


Plate  13.     HERMES  KRIOI'HOKOS  [THE  LAMB-CAKKIER] 

(See  p.  67)  [p.  66 


THE  AGES  OF  TRANSITION 
an  ancient  Cretan  story  of  a  divine  nativity  in  which 
a  she-goat  suckled  a  babe.  That  indicates  the  transition 
from  an  animal  deity  to  an  anthropomorphic  one,  just  as 
does  the  old  Mother  Wolf  of  Roman  legend.  Doubtless 
some  artistic  representations  of  a  she-goat  and  a  she-wolf 
play  their  part  in  such  stories.  Again,  Cronos  is  said  to  have 
tried  to  crush  the  usurper  in  the  bud  by  swallowing  his 
dangerous  child,  but  to  have  swallowed  a  stone  instead. 
That  may  cover  the  transition  from  stone-  and  pillar-worship. 
Still  more  instructive  are  the  legends  of  contest  between 
deities  for  worship  at  a  particular  shrine.  The  ordinary 
device  for  the  introduction  of  Zeus  was  to  make  him  the 
father  of  the  local  hero.  "God,"  says  Voltaire,  "first  made 
man  in  His  own  likeness,  and  man  has  been  returning  the 
compliment  ever  since."  It  is  the  secret  of  anthropomorphic 
religion  that  the  worshipper  is  worshipping  himself,  or  rather 
an  idealised  vision  of  himself  projected  upon  the  public 
conception  of  his  god.  The  human  heart  has  an  unlimited 
power  of  thus  adapting  its  faith  to  its  habits.  Anthropologists 
are  continually  telling  us  of  the  persistence  of  ancient  cults  in 
spite  of  pretended  changes  of  faith,  rituals  that  belong  to 
Artemis  transferred  to  the  Virgin,  dirges  for  Adonis  trans- 
formed into  mourning  for  Christ.  Often  when  the  polite 
antiquarian  Pausanias  asked  the  Greeks  of  his  day  about 
the  objects  of  their  worship  he  got  conflicting  answers.  That 
is  how  it  becomes  easy  to  make  converts  if  you  are  content  to 
leave  ritual  unchanged,  and  that  was  how  Apollo  got  himself 
accepted  as  the  young  man's  god  all  over  Greece.  There 
was,  indeed,  a  rival  young  man's  god  in  Hermes,  a  very 
ancient  deity.  Remnants  of  antique  aniconic  worship  attach 
themselves  to  Hermes  :  his  statues  even  in  classical  times 
are  three  parts  pillar  to  one  part  god.  He  is  the  shepherd- 
god  of  Arcady,*  and  the  Arcadians  represent  more  purely 
than  any  other  peoples  of  Greece  the  aboriginal  Aigean 
stratum.    Hermes  is  a  god  of  music  too,  but  his  instrument 

•  Plate  13. 

67 


Lyre 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
is  the  lyre,  which  in  shape  and  construction  resembles  the 
modern  mandoline,  for  the  body  was  made  from  the  shell 
of  a  tortoise,  an  indigenous  Greek  creature,  with 
a  sounding-board  of  parchment  stretched  over  it. 
Apollo  properly  plays  on  the  cithara.or  Northern 
harp.  The  popularity  of  Hermes  persisted 
throughout  because  he  became  identified  with 
Luck,  and  Luck  is  the  one  god  we  all  worship. 
He  is  also  associated  with  commerce ;  he  it  is 
who  drives  a  sharp  bargain  ;  and,  as  we  saw, 
the  aboriginal  stratum  of  Greece  provided  the 
trading  element  in  the  Hellenic  races.  This  attribute  the 
trade-despising  warriors  of  the  dominant  race  turned  to  his 
discredit,  for  poor  Hermes  in  Homer,  and  generally  in  litera- 
ture, becomes  a  sharper  of  the  worst  descrip- 
tion. If  you  ask  "Who  stole  the  cows  ?"  the 
answer  is,  "  Hermes."  He  is  the  messenger 
of  Zeus,  but  he  is  also  his  spy.  Hermes,  then, 
was  much  too  strongly  planted  to  be  uprooted 
by  the  intruding  Apollo.  But  it  seems  that 
some  male  god  of  the  older  race  was  swallowed 
up  and  bodily  incorporated  under  that  name. 
For  in  classical  Greece  there  are  two  rival 
Apollos,  one  the  Delian  or  Cynthian  Apollo, 
the  centre  of  whose  cult  was  the  island  of  Delos,  the  other  the 
true  Dorian  god,  called  Pythian  Apollo,  and  worshipped  above 
all  at  Delphi.  The  Delian  shrine  was  a  centre  of  the  Ionians, 
and  Delos  afterwards  became  the  headquarters  of  the  maritime 
league  of  Athens  and  the  Ionian  States.  Delos  boasted  itself 
to  have  been  the  god's  birthplace,  and  mythology  presented 
an  elaborate  nativity  for  this  Apollo  and  his  sister  Artemis. 
"  Homeric"  hymns  to  both  Apollos  are  preserved,  and  it  is 
interesting  to  notice  how  the  Ionian  bard  who  is  praising  the 
Apollo  of  Delos  mentions  all  the  centres  of  his  worship  in  a 
longish  list  which  tallies  closely  with  the  list  of  Athenian  allies 
in  the  Delian  confederacy.  But  this  Delian  Apollo  is  not  the 
68 


Cithara 


THE  AGES  OF  TRANSITION 

important  one  ;  in  many  respects  he  is  only  a  pale  reflection  of 
the  other,  and  his  vogue  principally  depended  on  the  extreme 
sanctity  of  the  little  island  of  Delos. 

The  true  Apollo  is  the  Northern  god  who  had  his  home 
at  Delphi.  He  and  his  worship  play  such  a  prominent  part 
in  the  making  of  classical  as  distinct  from  prehistoric  and 
heroic  Greece  that  I  put  him  in  the  forefront  of  this  age  of 
transition.  Delphi  is  one  of  the  most  impressive  sites  in 
Greece,  lying  high  in  a  narrow  glen  with  precipitous  and 
almost  awe-inspiring  crags  on  every  side.*  Several  times  in 
Greek  history  rash  invaders  failed  to  penetrate  into  this 
mysterious  shrine.  The  god's  majesty  and  the  terrors  of  his 
abode  were  sufficient  protection.  It  is  clear  from  the  mytho- 
logical presentation  of  his  coming  that  before  Apollo  there 
was  already  an  ancient  oracle  at  Delphi,  the  source  of  which 
was  a  snake  called  Pytho.  Snakes  figure  largely  in  the 
animistic  worship  of  the  old  race,  as  typifying  the  spirits  of  the 
dead  issuing  from  the  earth.  The  myth  described  how  Apollo 
came  and  conquered  this  serpent.  He  built  a  great  temple 
in  this  valley  under  Parnassus,  and  took  the  place  of  Earth, 
or  Themis,  as  Pythian  Apollo,  lord  of  the  Delphic  oracle. 

Apollo  is  the  most  virile  god  on  Olympus,  as  he  is  the 
representative  god  of  the  most  manly  race  in  Hellas,  the 
Dorians.  He  is  the  young  athlete  god.  If  we  trace  the 
history  of  his  type  in  art  we  see  him  at  first  a  rudimentary 
male  figure,  only  just  evolved  out  of  the  pillar  shape.  He  is 
always  nude  in  these  early  statues,  and  it  is  not  easy  to  say 
how  many  of  the  so-called  early  Apollos  represent  the  god, 
and  how  many  are  simply  statues  of  male  athletes.  It  makes 
little  difference,  for  the  god  and  his  worshipper  are  one.  At  first 
there  is  little  expression,  as  in  the  "Apollo  of  Orchomenos,"  f 
for  the  artist  is  still  struggling  with  his  stubborn  material,  happy 
if  his  chisel  can  get  the  semblance  of  human  shape  out  of  the 
marble.  In  the  next  stage,  represented  by  the  "Tenean 
Apollo,"  the  sculptor  has  attained  considerable  mastery  over 

•  Plate  14.  t  ^ate  15. 

60 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

his  tools,  and  has  succeeded  in  his  main  object,  namely,  a 
faithful  expression  of  the  muscles  of  the  male  body.*  The 
reader  will  notice  "the  archaic  grin"  on  the  faces  of  all  gods 
and  goddesses  of  this  period.    This  is  probably  an  attempt  to 
indicate  the  benevolence  of  the  deity  ;  the  god  smiles  when 
he  intends  to  grant  the  prayer  of  his  suppliant.    Apollo  was 
always  the  god  of  healing;   /Esculapius  was  his  son  and 
Hygisea  his  daughter.    By-and-by  the  artists  learnt  how  to 
express  benevolence  less  crudely.t  and  all  the  time  they  were 
learning  more  anatomy  and  a  fuller  mastery  over  their  tools, 
until  in  the  glorious  fifth  century  Alcamenes  (who,  by  the  way, 
was  an  Athenian)  could  make  a  noble  figure  such  as  stands 
calm  and  powerful,  every  inch  a  god,  in  the  midst  of  battle 
on  the  West  Pediment  of  the  great  temple  at  Olympia.J 
Study  this  god.    If  you  can  love  him  you  will  have  learnt 
the  secret  of  Dorian  greatness.    He  is  very  simple,  serious, 
and  severe ;  he  has  the  asceticism  of  a  good  athlete  who 
knows  what  discipline  means  for  the  sake  of  his  club  or 
country.    You  must  judge  him  as  archaic  work,  you  must 
allow,  when  you  criticise  the  stiffness  of  his  hair,  for  the 
use  of  tinting  and  the  crown  of  gilt  bay-leaves  which  once 
passed  through  the  hollow  underneath  his  hair.    You  will 
perceive  that  there  is  something  wrong  with  the  angle  of  his 
eyelids,  which  meet  without  overlapping.    Sculptors  of  the 
next  generation  learnt  to  correct  that,  but  they  never  con- 
ceived a  grander  figure  of  the  sort  of  god  that  a  gentleman 
and  a  Spartiate  might  fitly  worship.    Of  course  this  is  not  a 
temple  image ;  it  is  only  one  detail  of  a  piece  of  ornament 
under  the  gable  at  the  back  of  a  temple,  but  it  is  the  conception 
of  a  great  artist.    After  that  they  began  to  think  too  much 
about  the  beauty  of  Apollo  and  young  athletes  in  general, 
worshipping  both  with  extravagant  devotion.    Hermes  as  a 
more  graceful  and  sensuous  young  god  began  to  supplant 
Apollo  in  the  favour  of  Art.    At  last  we  come  to  the 
young  exquisite  with  the  elaborate  coiffure  and  the  studied 

*  Plate  16.  f  Plate  17.  J  Plate  18. 

70 


Plate  15.   "APOLLO,"  FROM  ORCHOMENUS 

(See  p.  69)  [/.  70 


THE  AGES  OF  TRANSITION 
theatrical  pose,  the  Apollo  Belvedere,  who  seemed  to  our 
great-grandfathers  the  most  perfect  of  Greek  statues,  though 
he  was  carved  to  suit  a  decadent  taste  in  the  days  when 
Greece  had  lost  the  very  memory  of  manliness.  Another 
conflicting,  but,  I  believe,  equally  Dorian  type  of  Apollo 
represents  him  in  the  flowing  and  almost  feminine  robes 
of  a  musician.  This  is  Apollo  the  artist,  not  the  athlete,  the 
Apollo  who  leads  the  choir  of  Muses  on  Mount  Helicon, 

To  return  to  the  god  and  his  oracle :  the  Dorians  had 
planted  him  at  Delphi  on  their  way  south  about  iooo  B.C. 
and  when  they  had  overrun  the  whole  Peloponnesus, 
except  Arcadia  and  Achaia,  occupying  the  southern  islands, 
including  Crete,  and  overflowing  even  into  the  south  of  Asia 
Minor,  Delphi  became  their  central  shrine  and  oracle.  So 
cleverly  was  that  oracle  managed  by  the  Delphic  priests  that 
it  became  the  common  centre  for  advice  to  all  Greece,  unti, 
it  formed  a  sort  of  focus  of  Greek  nationality.  Even  semi- 
barbarian  monarchs  like  Crcesus  of  Lydia  applied  to  it  for 
advice,  and  paid  for  its  oracles  with  lavish  dedications.  As 
ambassadors  kept  coming  to  Delphi  from  all  parts  of  the 
Greek  world,  the  priests  had  good  opportunity  of  collecting 
information.  They  were  especially  strong  in  geography,  and 
if  a  city  found  its  population  increasing  beyond  the  extent  of  its 
wall  space,  or  if  there  were  a  gang  of  mischievous  young  nobles 
to  be  got  rid  of,  or  if  the  city  sought  new  commercial  open- 
ings, it  would  send  an  embassy  to  Delphi  to  consult  Apollo 
about  a  suitable  site  for  a  new  colony.  After  due  sacrifices 
and  oblations  and  various  mysterious  rites  to  ensure  the  proper 
reverential  spirit,  they  would  be  introduced  into  the  inmost 
shrine,  where  a  priestess  sat  upon  a  tripod  over  the  identical 
crack  in  the  ground  where  the  old  serpent  Pytho  had  once 
made  his  den.  Here  was  a  conical  stone  representing  the 
omphalos  or  navel  of  the  earth.  Then  the  inspiration  would 
seize  the  Pythian  priestess,  she  would  fall  into  a  kind  of  fit  or 
trance,  caused,  they  say,  by  burning  leaves  of  laurel,  and  in 
the  course  of  it  she  uttered  wild  and  whirling  words.  Before 

7i 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
you  left  the  priests  would  hand  you  the  substance  of  her 
remarks  neatly  composed  in  rather  weak  hexameter  verses. 
Very  often  the  advice  would  turn  out  excellently,  for  the 
priests  knew  their  business.  If  it  did  not  they  could  usually 
point  out  that  their  words  bore  quite  a  different  interpretation 
if  you  had  had  the  sense  to  understand  them.  Thus  Croesus 
asked  whether  he  should  make  war  on  the  growing  power  of 
Persia ;  he  was  told  that  if  he  did  he  would  destroy  a  mighty 
empire.  After  the  success  of  Cyrus,  the  oracle,  of  course, 
explained  that  Croesus  had  in  fact  destroyed  a  mighty  empire 
— namely,  his  own. 

The  supple  intelligence  of  the  Greeks  devoted  a  good  deal 
of  its  ingenuity  to  inventing  smart  double -entendres  like  this, 
but  I  am  afraid  that  the  Delphic  priests  were  actually  guilty 
of  a  good  deal  of  low  trickery,  though  they  would  hardly  have 
won  the  national  confidence,  as  they  did,  if  that  sort  of  answer 
had  been  their  ordinary  practice.  In  politics  they  played  a 
very  important  part  until  the  Persian  wars,  when  their  more 
accurate  knowledge  of  external  affairs  led  them  to  overrate 
the  power  of  Darius  and  Xerxes  and  to  counsel  submission, 
whereby  they  somewhat  injured  their  credit.  They  formed  an 
international  bureau,  resembling  the  Hague  tribunals,  though 
not  always  on  the  side  of  peace,  for  the  statesmen  of  Greece. 
Two  institutions  in  particular  made  them  a  much-frequented 
shrine  ;  one  was  the  Pythian  Games,  the  second  in  importance 
of  the  four  great  religious  and  athletic  festivals  of  Greece, 
and  the  other  was  the  Delphic  Amphictyony.  The  latter 
was  an  international  league  for  religious  worship  which  looked, 
at  times,  as  if  it  were  going  to  develop  into  a  real  Panhellenic 
confederacy.  Delphi  had  crept  in  here,  supplanting  a  much 
older  religious  union  of  neighbours  at  Anthela.  Even  in 
historical  times  the  Amphictyons  or  their  delegates  met 
alternately  at  the  shrine  of  Demeter  at  Anthela  and  at  the 
temple  of  Apollo  at  Delphi.  The  meeting  was  mainly  for 
common  worship,  but  some  of  the  proceedings  touched  inter- 
national politics,  and  there  was  an  old  Amphictyonic  oath 


72 


THE  AGES  OF  TRANSITION 
resembling  the  Geneva  Conventions,  in  which  the  members 
bound  themselves  not  to  cut  off  running  water  from  any  other 
city  of  the  league.  Unfortunately,  the  inveterate  feuds  of  the 
Greeks  often  led  to  the  abuse  of  this  league  for  political  ends, 
and,  instead  of  enforcing  holy  peace,  we  often  find  it  waging 
sacred  wars. 

We  saw  that  Pindar  placed  eunomia — good  order — among 
the  gifts  of  Apollo.  Like  Athena,  Apollo  was  greatly  inter- 
ested in  political  and  constitutional  systems.  In  the  course  of 
the  seventh  century,  which  is  the  period  when  Delphi  first  began 
to  extend  its  influence,  we  find  the  oracle  deliberately  claiming 
the  authorship  of  some  of  the  most  celebrated  legal  and  con- 
stitutional systems  of  the  day.  Sparta  was  not  only  the  chief 
Dorian  State,  with  a  preponderant  influence  or  hegemony  over 
all  Southern  Greece,  but  the  possessor  of  the  most  elaborate 
and  successful  political  system  in  the  whole  country.  We 
can  see  the  Delphic  oracle  deliberately  inserting  itself  as  the 
founder  of  this  good  order.  The  historian  Herodotus  got 
much  of  his  information  from  the  oracle,  and  he  tells  us  its 
version,  how  a  certain  Lycurgus  had  come  to  Delphi  to  ask 
for  laws  and  a  constitution,  and  had  received  it  from  the 
god.  But  the  Spartans  themselves  had  not  yet  been  con- 
vinced. They  still  believed  that  theirs  were  the  true  Dorian 
institutions — as,  in  fact,  they  mostly  were — dating  back  to 
their  original  leaders,  "the  sons  of  Heracles,"  and  closely  re- 
sembling those  of  Dorian  Crete.  A  generation  or  two  after 
Herodotus  the  Delphic  claim  was  admitted,  for  constitutional 
writers  of  all  parties  were  glad  to  accept  the  sanction  of  the 
god  for  the  constitution  as  they  severally  interpreted  it.  Thus 
Lycurgus,  who  had  originally  been  an  obscure  hero  with  a 
half-forgotten  cult,  came  to  rank  as  the  Spartan  law-giver  and 
the  author  of  the  remarkable  system  of  life  and  government 
which  we  shall  presently  describe.  They  did  the  same  for 
the  famous  legal  systems  of  the  West,  claiming  to  have 
inspired  Zaleucus,  the  law-giver  of  Locri,  and  Charondas  of 
Catane  with  their  codes.    There  is  some  indication  of  similar 

73 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
proceedings  with  regard  to  Solon  of  Athens,  but  they  met  with 
little  success  among  the  rationalistic  worshippers  of  Athena, 
who  was  as  much  a  patron  of  law  and  order  as  Apollo  himself. 
Delphi  endeavoured  to  appropriate  the  wisdom  of  the  Seven 
Sages,  mostly  early  historical  philosophers  who  belong  to 
these  ages  of  transition.  Apollo  even  claimed  the  philosophy 
of  Pythagoras,  whose  name  lent  itself  peculiarly  to  a  supposed 
Delphic  origin.  By  such  means  as  these  the  Delphic  oracle 
became  the  chief  sanctuary  in  Greece,  and  exerted  a  very 
great  influence,  which,  however,  some  modern  scholars  have 
tended  to  exaggerate. 

Athletics 

The  coming  of  Apollo  and  his  Dorians  meant  also  a  great 
impetus  to  the  cult  of  athletics  in  Greece.  The  boxers  and  the 
bull-fighters  of  Cnossos  prove  that  athletics  were  already  at 
home  on  Greek  soil  before  the  Northerners  came,  and  this 
fact  alone  should  prove  that  the  earlier  civilisation  was  not 
Asiatic,  not  at  any  rate  Semitic.  But  the  Achseans  and 
Dorians  were  also  devoted  to  manly  sport.  With  them  it 
seems  to  have  had  from  the  first  a  religious  significance, 
especially  in  connection  with  funerals  and  ancestor-worship. 
In  the  Iliad  the  funeral  of  Patroclus  is  honoured  with  sports 
at  his  tomb.  The  programme  of  this  early  meeting  was  an 
elaborate  one.  It  might  be  described  in  modern  technical 
style  somewhat  as  follows  : 

Chariot  Race.  First  Prize :  A  blameless,  accomplished  woman  and  a 
tripod  with  handles.  Second  Prize  :  A  brood  mare.  Third  Prize  :  A  new 
cauldron.  Fourth  Prize:  Two  talents  of  gold.  Fifth  Prize:  A  new  two- 
handled  pan. 

Antilochus  won  the  toss  and  took  the  inner  station.  In  the  first  lap 
there  was  little  in  it,  but  on  rounding  the  turn  Eumelus'  team  pushed  to  the 
front,  with  Diomede  lying  second,  close  up.  Phoebus  Apollo  knocked  the 
whip  out  of  Diomede's  hand,  whereupon  Pallas  Athene  responded  by  break- 
ing the  leader's  yoke,  the  driver  being  seriously  injured.  Result :  Diomede  i, 
Antilochus  2,  Menelaus  3,  Meriones  4,  Eumelus  o.  The  fifth  prize  was 
awarded  to  Nestor  as  the  oldest  member  present.  Menelaus'  objection  to 
Antilochus  on  the  score  of  dangerous  driving  was  amicably  settled. 

Boxing  Match.  Prize :  A  six-year-old  mule.  Consolation  Prize :  A 
two-handled  cup. 

74 


THE  AGES  OF  TRANSITION 

Epeius  and  Euryalus  were  the  only  entrants.  Epeius  was  an  early 
winner,  finding  the  Theban  champion's  jaw  in  the  first  round  and  knocking 
him  out  like  a  fish  out  of  water. 

Wrestling  Match.  Prize:  A  large  tripod,  value  twelve  oxen.  Con- 
*  solation  Prize  :  A  clever  woman,  value  four  oxen. 

Of  the  two  wrestlers  Ajax  showed  superior  strength,  but  Odysseus  was 
more  than  his  match  in  science.  This  seems  to  have  been  a  regular  rough- 
and-tumble,  both  champions  being  pinched  black  and  blue;  there  was 
nothing  to  choose  between  them,  and  after  a  ding-dong  struggle  the  match 
was  declared  a  draw. 

Foot-race.  First  Prize :  Handsome  silver  punch-bowl  of  Sidonian 
make.    Second  Prize  :  Fat  ox.    Third  Prize  :  Half  a  talent  of  gold. 

Odysseus,  none  the  worse  for  his  recent  encounter,  entered  in  a  field  of 
three.  Ajax  son  of  Oileus  was  first  off  the  mark,  closely  followed  by 
Odysseus.  The  latter,  unable  to  get  on  terms  with  his  speedier  rival,  prayed 
to  Pallas  Athene  for  help.  On  nearing  the  prizes  Ajax  fell,  and  Odysseus 
was  declared  the  winner.  The  objection  lodged  by  Ajax  on  the  ground  of 
celestial  interference  was  dismissed  with  ridicule. 

Sham  Duel.    Prize  :  The  armour  of  Sarpedon. 

Diomede  and  Telamonian  Ajax  were  so  evenly  matched  that  this  event 
also  was  pronounced  a  draw. 

Putting  the  Weight.    Prize:  A  lump  of  natural  iron. 

Polypoetes  won  this  event  with  a  record  put,  amid  general  enthusiasm. 

Archery.  First  Prize :  Ten  double  axes.  Second  Prize :  Ten  single 
axes. 

The  mark  was  a  dove  tied  to  a  mast.  Teucer  won  the  toss  and  took 
first  shot,  missing  his  bird,  but  cutting  the  string  by  which  it  was  attached. 
Thereupon  Meriones  snatched  the  bow,  and,  vowing  a  hecatomb  to  Apollo, 
pierced  the  dove  to  the  heart,  thus  proving  his  title  to  the  first  prize. 

Javelin-throwing.  First  Prize :  Ornamental  cauldron,  value  one  ox. 
Second  Prize  :  Javelin. 

Agamemnon  walked  over. 

Even  in  the  account  of  these  games  it  seems  very  probable 
that  there  has  been  a  process  of  accumulation  in  which  later 
bards  have  added  events  according  to  their  fancy.  Some  of 
the  later  encounters  are  described  with  much  less  vigour  and 
skill  than  the  earlier.  It  is,  however,  important  to  notice  that 
from  the  very  first  Greek  athletics  were  part  of  religion. 
They  were  undertaken  in  a  serious,  devotional  spirit,  to  honour 
some  god  or  defunct  hero.  It  was  the  same  with  poetry. 
Epic  was,  of  course,  devoted  to  the  gods  and  heroes.  The 
early  lyric  was  also  in  the  main  devotional,  whatever  its 
subject  might  be.  We  have  seen  Hesiod  carrying  his  poetic 
talents  to  a  contest  in  song  arranged  to  honour  the  funeral  of 

75 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

Amphidamas.  Tragedy,  it  is  now  said,  developed  out  of 
funeral  choruses.  It  appears  also  that  the  great  games  of 
Delphi — the  Pythian  Games — developed  from  a  musical  con- 
test. The  histories  of  Herodotus  are  said  to  have  been 
declaimed  at  the  Olympic  Games,  and  orators  would  in 
later  times  make  them  the  occasion  for  Panhellenic  orations. 
There  was  no  divorce  between  intellect  and  muscle  among 
the  Greeks.  Each  was  a  necessary  part  of  aretdt  the 
quality  of  the  perfect  man.  Sport-loving  people  as  we  are, 
there  is  nothing  in  all  literature  so  hard  for  us  to  com- 
prehend as  the  work  of  Pindar,  the  Bceotian  poet  of  the 
early  fifth  century.  His  professional  business  was  only  the 
writing  of  the  Epinikia,  songs  and  music  in  celebration  of 
athletic  contests  at  the  great  games,  Pythian,  Nemean,  Isth- 
mian, and  Olympic.  But  the  spirit  in  which  he  approaches 
his  task  is  that  of  a  man  writing  about  the  most  solemn  and 
important  achievements  in  the  world.  He  assumes  that 
success  in  a  boys'  wrestling  match  or  a  mule-race  is  an  episode 
in  the  history  of  the  successful  athlete's  country,  and  does  not 
find  it  inappropriate  to  speak  of  the  gods  and  heroes  in  the 
same  breath.  "  Far  and  wide  shineth  the  glory  of  the  Olympian 
Games,  the  glory  that  is  won  in  the  races  of  Pelops,  where 
swiftness  of  foot  contends,  and  feats  of  strength,  hardy  in 
labour.  All  his  life  long  the  victor  shall  bask  in  the  glory  of 
song  for  his  prize.  Daily  continued  blessedness  is  the  supreme 
good  for  every  man."  We  cannot  understand  the  devotional 
spirit  of  Pindar  unless  we  realise  that  the  Greeks  dedicated 
their  bodily  strength  and  grace  to  the  honour  and  service  of 
heaven.  The  Hebrew  praised  Jehovah  in  dance  and  song  ; 
the  Greek  honoured  Zeus  and  Apollo  with  wrestling  and  races 
and  the  beauty  of  trained  bodies. 

The  Olympian  Games  *  had  originally  belonged  to  the 
service  of  local  heroes,  CEnomaus  and  Pelops,  but  as  they 
gained  in  popularity  Father  Zeus  took  them  under  his  aegis. 
Apollo  was  said  to  have  outrun  Hermes  in  a  race  there  and  to 

*  See  Vase  Plate,  Fig.  3  (a  Panathenaic  Amphora). 

76 


PLATE  17.   THE  "STRANGFOKD"  APOLLO  [/. 
(Six-  p.  70) 


THE  AGES  OF  TRANSITION 
have  beaten  Ares  in  boxing.  The  traditional  date  for  the 
founding  of  the  festival  was  776  B.C.,  and  that  became  the  era 
from  which  all  Greek  dates  were  subsequently  settled.  But 
the  actual  date  has  no  special  significance  :  in  origin  the 
games  were  much  older,  and  their  great  importance  begins  a 
good  deal  later — begins,  in  fact,  with  the  real  hegemony  of 
Sparta.  Though  the  games  were  not  in  Spartan  territory  it 
was  undoubtedly  from  Spartan  support  that  their  importance 
arose. 

At  first  the  only  contest  was  a  foot-race,  but  various  events 
were  added  until  at  last  five  days  were  necessary  for  the 
whole  meeting.  The  most  important  contests  were  the 
following:  (1)  Short  foot-race;  (2)  double  course;  (3)  long 
foot-race ;  (4)  wrestling ;  (5)  pentathlon,  consisting  of  five 
feats,  long  jump,  foot-race,  quoit-throwing,  javelin-throwing, 
wrestling  ;  (6)  boxing  ;  (7)  four-horse  chariot-race  ;  (8)  pan- 
cration,  a  mixture  of  boxing  and  wrestling — in  fact,  a  combat 
between  two  naked  unarmed  men,  with  scarcely  any  rules  ; 
(9)  horse-race ;  (10)  hoplite-race  for  soldiers  in  full  armour. 
Besides  these  there  were  six  special  events  for  boys  and 
various  other  contests,  such  as  mule-races  and  trotting  races, 
which  did  not  become  permanent  fixtures.  There  was  a 
regular  competition  for  heralds  and  trumpeters. 

Sacrifice  and  ritual  accompanied  every  stage  of  the  pro- 
ceedings. Before  the  meeting,  which  took  place  every  four 
years,  ambassadors  went  from  city  to  city  proclaiming  a  Sacred 
Truce.  All  people  who  could  prove  Greek  nationality  were 
invited.  From  its  situation  Olympia  naturally  attracted  sup- 
port from  the  flourishing  communities  of  Sicily  and  South 
Italy.  Whether  they  sent  competitors  or  not,  most  of  the 
States  would  send  embassies  to  the  festival,  and  a  great  point 
was  made  of  their  lavish  equipment.  The  judges  were  chosen 
by  lot  from  the  citizens  of  Elis,  who  managed  the  contest ; 
they  received  a  ten  months'  course  of  instruction  beforehand 
in  the  duties  of  their  office.  All  the  competitors  had  to 
undergo  a  strict  examination  as  to  their  qualifications,  and  to 

77 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
take  an  oath  on  the  altar  of  Zeus  that  they  would  compete 
fairly  and  that  they  had  been  in  training  for  the  previous  ten 
months.  The  only  prize  was  a  crown  of  wild  olive,  cut  from 
a  certain  tree  of  special  sanctity,  but  the  victor's  name  and 
country  were  proclaimed  to  the  assembled  multitude  and  the 
hiorhest  honours  awaited  him  on  his  return.  He  was  welcomed 
in  procession,  led  in  through  a  breach  specially  made  in  the 
wall  of  his  city,  and  granted  immunities  from  taxation,  or,  as 
at  Athens,  free  meals  in  the  Presidential  House  for  all  his 
life.  The  chariot-races  were  especially  the  object  of  ambition 
and  the  opportunity  for  display  to  the  wealthy.  Tyrants 
of  Syracuse  competed  in  them,  but  the  brilliant  Athenian 
Alcibiades  outstripped  all  competitors  by  sending  in  no  fewer 
than  seven  teams. 

Although  the  prize  was  but  a  spiritual  one,  we  cannot  say 
that  the  contests  were  always  conducted  in  what  we  should 
call  a  spirit  of  pure  amateur  sport.  Perhaps  the  incentive  to 
trickery  was  excessively  great.  Anyhow,  there  stood  at 
Olympia  an  ominous  row  of  statues  dedicated  to  Zeus  which 
had  been  set  up  as  fines  by  athletes  guilty  of  discreditable 
practices,  generally  of  the  kind  we  associate  with  the  "  pulling  " 
of  horses.  But  when  it  is  considered  that  the  Olympian 
Games  continued  in  an  almost  unbroken  series  for  twelve 
centuries — that  is,  until  the  Emperor  Theodosius  abolished 
them  in  a.d.  393 — the  list  of  such  irregularities  is  not  unduly 
long. 

In  the  very  minute  account  of  Olympia  which  we  owe  to 
the  traveller  Pausanias  there  are  some  curious  and  interesting 
anecdotes  of  the  games.  For  example,  he  saw  the  statue  of 
the  boy  Pisirodus,  who  was  brought  to  the  Olympian  Games  by 
his  mother  disguised  as  a  trainer,  because  no  women  were 
allowed  to  be  present.  "They  say  that  Diagoras  came 
with  his  sons  Acusilaus  and  Damagetus  to  Olympia,  and 
when  the  young  men  had  won  their  prizes  they  carried  their 
father  through  the  assembly,  while  the  people  pelted  him  with 
flowers  and  called  him  happy  in  his  children."  Then  there  is 
78 


English  Photo  O.,  Athtni 


Plate  18.    HEAD  OK  APOLLO,  FROM  THE  WESTERN 
PEDIMENT,  OLYMPIA  (Scc|p.  70) 


THE  AGES  OF  TRANSITION 
Timanthes,  the  strong  man,  who  won  the  pancration.  "  He 
had  ceased  practising  as  an  athlete,  but  still  he  continued  to 
test  his  strength  by  bending  a  mighty  bow  every  day.  Well, 
he  went  away  from  home,  and  while  he  was  away  his  practice 
with  the  bow  was  discontinued.  But  when  he  came  back  and 
could  no  longer  bend  his  bow  he  lit  a  fire  and  flung  himself 
on  the  flames."  There  is  the  plough-boy  Glaucus,  whose 
father  noticed  him  one  day  fitting  the  ploughshare  into  his 
plough  with  his  fist  instead  of  a  hammer.  His  father  there- 
upon took  him  to  Olympia  to  box,  but  as  he  had  no  skill  in 
boxing  he  was  badly  punished  and  almost  beaten.  Suddenly 
his  father  called  out,  "  Give  him  the  plough-hammer,  my  boy  !  " 
Whereupon  he  knocked  his  adversary  out,  won  the  prize,  and 
became  a  famous  pugilist.  "  The  mare  of  the  Corinthian 
Phidolas  was  named  Aura  ;  at  the  start  she  happened  to  throw 
her  rider,  but  continuing,  nevertheless,  to  race  in  due  form,  she 
rounded  the  turning-post,  and  on  hearing  the  trumpet  quickened 
her  pace,  reached  the  umpires  first,  knew  that  she  had  won, 
and  stopped." 

That  there  was  a  good  deal  of  extravagance  in  the  cult  of 
athletes  was  not  likely  to  escape  the  critical  eye  of  a  people 
who  so  detested  extravagance  in  any  form.  The  outspoken 
Euripides  had  a  violent  tirade  against  athletes  in  his  satyric 
drama  Autolysis.  "It  is  folly,"  he  says,  "for  the  Greeks  to 
make  a  great  gathering  to  see  useless  creatures  like  these,  whose 
god  is  in  their  belly.  What  good  does  a  man  do  to  his  city 
by  winning  a  prize  for  wrestling  or  speed  or  quoit-heaving  or 
jaw-smiting  ?  Will  they  fight  the  enemy  with  quoits  ?  Will 
they  drive  the  enemy  out  of  their  country  without  spears  by 
kicking  ?  No  one  plays  antics  like  these  when  he  stands  near 
the  steel.  Garlands  of  leaves  should  be  for  the  wise  and  good, 
for  the  just  and  sober  statesman  who  guides  his  city  best,  for 
the  man  who  with  his  words  averts  evil  deeds,  keeping  battle 
and  civil  strife  away.  Those  are  the  real  boons  for  every  city 
and  all  the  Greeks."  Twenty-three  centuries  stand  between 
this  and  "  The  flannelled  fool  at  the  wicket,  the  muddied  oaf 

79 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
at  the  goal."    I  fear  that  Euripides  got  no  more  attention  than 
Mr.  Kipling. 

As  with  us,  professionalism  grew  upon  them  in  later  days. 
The  old  ideals  of  bodily  grace  and  all-round  excellence  were 
deserted.  In  their  place  the  boxing  and  pancration  en- 
couraged a  coarse  type  of  heavy-weight  bruiser.  The  training 
and  meals  of  the  athletes  became  a  by- word  in  vegetarian 
Greece,  and  romantic  sporting  reporters  enlarged  upon  the 
gastronomic  feats  of  the  famous  athletes. 

Athleticism,  however,  gave  one  thing  to  the  Greeks  that 
we  lack.  It  was  from  the  models  in  the  palaestra  and  the 
stadium  that  the  sculptors  of  Greece  drew  their  inspiration. 
It  was  of  course  an  immense  benefit  to  that  art  to  be  able  to 
see  the  stripped  body  at  exercise  in  the  sunlight,  and  that, 
coupled  with  the  natural  Greek  sense  of  form,  is  the  secret 

of  the  unchallenged  supremacy 
of  Greek  sculpture.  Perfect 
anatomy  of  the  body  was 
achieved  even  before  the  face 
be  properly  rendered. 
The  nude  male  figure  was  the 
favourite  theme  of  fifth-century 
art,  and  extraordinary  perfection 
was  reached  by  Myron  and 
Polycleitus.  Myron's  "  Disco- 
bolus "  is,  of  course,  one  of  the 
best  known  of  ancient  statues. 
Myron,  an  Athenian  artist,  is  an 
elder  contemporary  of  Pheidias, 
and  therefore  belongs  to  the 
earlier  stages  of  the  great  period. 
But  he  had  already  begun  to 
feel  the  artist's  sense  of  mastery 
over  his  material,  and  he  de- 
lighted in  rather  strained  poses,  therein  starting  a  tendency 
for  sculpture  which  would  surely  have  led  to  a  premature 
80 


,(S^&$  could 


Myron's  "Discobolus,"  after  the 
copy  in  the  British  Museum 


THE  AGES  OF  TRANSITION 
decadence  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  extraordinary  genius  of 
the  inspired  Pheidias.  Two  out  of  the  many  modern  examples 
of  this  much-copied  statue  are  shown  here.*  But  they  are 
leagues  removed  from  the  original  bronze.  The  "  Disco- 
bolus" is  an  instantaneous  photograph  of  an  athlete  just 
poising  the  heavy  disk  and  preparing  to  throw.  In  another 
moment  he  will  turn  right-about  on  the  pivot  of  his  right 
foot.  There  are  few  statues  of  the  fifth  century  which 
thus  select  an  instant  out  of  a  series  of  movements.  For 
athlete  statues  two  types  stand  pre-eminent.  One  is  the 
athlete  f  just  fastening  the  diadem  upon  his  victorious  brow 
("  Diadumenus  "),  a  type  due  to  Polycleitus,  whose  examples 
of  figure-drawing  were  taken  even  by  the  Greeks  as 
"classics" — that  is,  as  models  of  perfection  in  the  direction 
attempted.  His  "  Doryphorus  "  $  was  known  as  "  the  Canon," 
as  being  a  model  of  proportion,  on  which  subject  Polycleitus 
wrote  a  treatise.  Unfortunately  we  are  compelled  here  again 
to  rely  upon  inferior  marble  copies  of  an  original  in  bronze, 
copies  which  probably  do  injustice  to  their  model  in  exaggerat- 
ing its  heaviness  and  muscularity.  The  other  fine  athletic 
type  is  that  of  the  "  Apoxyomenus,"  the  athlete  engaged  with 
the  strigil  in  scraping  off  the  oil  with  which  all  athletes,  and 
especially  wrestlers,  were  anointed.§  Of  all  statues  dealing 
with  athletics  one  of  the  most  impressive  is  the  bronze 
charioteer  lately  discovered  by  the  French  at  Delphi.  There 
is  a  wonderful  calm  and  dignity  about  the  long-robed  figure. II 
To  be  naked  and  unashamed  was  one  of  the  glories  of  the 
cultivated  Greek.  It  astonished  (and  still  shocks)  the  bar- 
barian. When  Agesilaus,  the  Spartan  king,  was  fighting  on 
Persian  soil  he  caused  his  Oriental  captives  to  be  exhibited 
naked  to  his  men,  in  order  that  they  might  have  no  more  terror 
of  the  great  king's  myriads.  Alone  among  civilised  peoples 
of  the  earth  the  ancient  Greek  dared  to  strip  his  body  to  the 
sun,  and  this  too,  as  Thucydides  witnesseth,  came  from  the 


*  Plate  19,  Fig.  1.  f  Plate  19,  Fig.  2. 
§  Plate  20,  Fig.  2. 

F 


J  Plate  20,  Fig  1 
U  Plate  21. 

8j 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
manly  city.  "  The  Lacedaemonians,"  he  says,  "  were  the  first 
to  use  simple  raiment  of  the  present  style,  and  in  other  respects 
were  the  first  to  adopt  a  similar  scale  of  living  for  rich  and 
poor.  They  were  the  first  to  strip  and  undress  in  public,  for 
anointing  with  oil  after  exercise.  Originally  the  athletes  used 
to  wear  loin-cloths  about  their  middles  even  at  the  Olympic 
Games,  and  that  practice  has  not  long  been  discontinued" 
(actually  in  720  B.C.).  "  Even  now  some  of  the  barbarians, 
especially  the  Asiatics,  continue  to  wear  clothes  at  contests  of 
boxing  and  wrestling.  One  might  point  to  several  other 
analogies  between  the  customs  of  ancient  Greece  and  modern 
barbarism."  With  female  nudity  the  case  is  different.  Al- 
though the  girls  of  Sparta  used  to  strip  for  their  gymnastic 
exercises,  that  was  a  notorious  Spartan  idiosyncrasy.  It  is 
only  under  foreign  influence  and  in  the  later  periods  that 
feminine  nudity  is  exhibited  in  Greek  art.  Hear  Platoon  the 
subject :  Socrates  has  been  led  by  the  logic  of  his  argument 
into  the  assertion  that  the  women  of  the  Ideal  Republic  ought 
to  be  educated  just  like  the  men,  to  go  through  the  semi- 
military  training  of  the  wrestling  school  and  the  gymnasium 
along  with  them.  The  only  objection  he  can  see  to  such  a 
course  is  that  the  public  exercises  of  women  would  appear 
ridiculous  to  the  Athenians  of  his  day.  That  objection  he 
dismisses  as  follows : 

"  Well,  then,"  says  Socrates,  "as  we  have  begun  the  argu- 
ment we  must  take  the  rough  with  the  smooth,  and  we  must 
beg  the  wits  to  leave  their  usual  trade  and  be  serious.  They 
must  remember  that  it  is  not  very  long  since  it  seemed  to  the 
Greeks  ugly  and  ridiculous  that  men  should  appear  naked,  as  it 
does  now  to  most  of  the  barbarians.  And  when  the  Cretans  first, 
and  after  them  the  Lacedaemonians,  began  their  stripped  exer- 
cises the  wits  of  the  day  had  occasion  to  make  fun  of  such 
things.    Don't  you  suppose  they  did  ?  " 

"  I  do  indeed." 

"  But  when  experience  showed  that  it  was  better  to  strip 
than  to  cover  the  body,  what  the  eye  thought  ridiculous  was 
82 


THE  AGES  OF  TRANSITION 
overwhelmed  by  what  logic  declared  to  be  best,  and  it  became 
apparent  that  it  is  only  a  fool  who  thinks  anything  ridiculous, 
except  what  is  evil." 

Sparta 

We  turn  naturally  from  Apollo  and  his  Dorians  to  the 
headquarters  of  the  Dorian  race,  where  all  the  strength  and 
weakness  of  the  Dorian  character  is  revealed  at  its  highest 
and  lowest.     As  the  most  important  part  of  Greek  history 
consists  of  the  long  duel  between  Sparta  and  Athens,  and  all 
our  literature  comes  from  Athens,  posterity  naturally  tends  to 
take  sides  against  Sparta.    And  yet  all  those  writers,  from 
Herodotus  to  Aristotle,  had  a  very  real  admiration  for  Sparta. 
Liberals,  on  the  other  hand — and  we  are  all  Liberals  nowadays 
— dislike  Sparta,  as  representing  oligarchy  against  democracy 
and  as  having  sold  the  liberty  of  Greece  to  the  Persians.  And 
yet  the  Spartans  practised  equality,  which  the  Athenians 
praised,  as  no  people  on  earth  have  ever  practised  it,  and  in  sell- 
ing Greece  to  Persia  they  were  only  bidding  against  Athens. 
Other  people  despise  Sparta  as  the  one  Greek  people  which 
contributed  hardly  anything  to  literature  and  art.    And  yet 
she  is  the  most  typically  Greek  of  all  Greek  states.  The 
fact  is  that  she  is  a  paradox.    One  of  the  chief  interests  of 
Greek  history  is  the  extraordinary  psychological  contrast 
between  the  two  chief  actors.    Sparta  is  the  antithesis  of 
Athens,  and  yet,  if  any  one  would  know  Greece,  he  must 
realise  that  both  are  essentially  and  characteristically  Greek. 
Each  is  the  complement  of  the  other.  Without  Sparta  Greece 
would  lack  its  most  remarkable  figure  in  the  realm  of  politics, 
as  well  as  its  chief  bulwark  in  land  warfare.     These  are  the 
two  sides  of  Sparta  on  which  we  ought  to  fix  our  attention — 
the  political  system  which  gave  her  the  best,  or  at  any  rate 
the  most  stable,  government  in  Greek  history,  and  the  military 
education  and  discipline  which  gave  her  the  finest  army. 

Politically,  all  the  Greek  states,  whether  democracies  or 
oligarchies,  rest  upon  a  double  structure  of  council  and 

83 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
assembly.  In  democracies  the  assembly  is  based  on  a  very 
wide  franchise,  and  possesses  the  actual  control  of  the  state, 
the  council  being  limited  to  subordinate  functions,  executive 
and  deliberative.  At  Athens,  as  we  shall  see,  the  council  is 
more  like  a  committee  to  prepare  business  for  the  assembly. 
In  oligarchies,  on  the  other  hand,  the  assembly  consists  of  a 
comparatively  small  and  select  body  of  richer  or  nobler 
citizens,  while  the  actual  government  is  in  the  hands  of  the 
council.  Sparta  contained  both  these  elements :  an  assembly 
of  all  the  warriors,  or  Spartiates,  with  full  rights,  though  these 
were  comparatively  a  small  proportion  of  the  population  of 
Laconia,  and  a  Gerousia,  or  Senate,  of  thirty  elders.  But 
Sparta,  though  ranked  as  an  oligarchy  by  the  general  opinion 
of  Greece,  was  not,  as  Aristotle  saw,  a  true  or  typical  oligarchy. 
In  the  first  place,  the  ruling  council  of  regular  oligarchies 
generally  consisted  of  a  close  corporation  co-opting  its 
members,  while  the  Spartan  gerontes  were  elected  by  the 
whole  body  of  the  full  citizens.  In  the  second  place,  Sparta 
had  developed  an  executive  magistracy,  which  had  far  more 
real  share  in  the  direction  of  the  state  than  either  the  Senate 
or  the  Assembly.  This  perhaps  was  the  secret  of  their  efficient 
and  stable  government,  for  most  Greek  states  had  such  a 
dread  of  personal  ascendancy  that  they  sacrificed  unity  and 
efficiency  of  administration  by  placing  their  executive  magis- 
tracies in  a  position  wholly  subordinate.  It  was  not  so  at 
Sparta.  There  they  had  retained  a  kingship  from  the  early 
times  of  the  Dorian  invasion  right  through  their  history,  as 
no  other  really  Greek  State  was  able  to  do.  They  had  two 
kings  descending  in  parallel  dynasties  from  prehistoric  times, 
or,  as  they  put  it,  from  two  Heracleid  families.  The  origin  of 
this  double  kingship  is  really  lost  in  antiquity,  though  there 
are  many  theories  about  it,  both  ancient  and  modern.  The 
most  probable  is  that  of  two  separate  bands  of  Dorian  invaders, 
each  under  its  own  king,  uniting  to  conquer  the  valley  of  the 
Eurotas,  and  combining  to  form  the  state.  In  reviewing  the 
kingship  of  Greek  history  Aristotle  places  this  Spartan  system 
84 


THE  AGES  OF  TRANSITION 

in  a  class  by  itself,  calling  it  a  "  permanent  hereditary  general- 
ship." By  his  time  the  office  had  lost,  indeed,  much  of  its 
political  significance,  and  was  notoriously  subordinate  to  the 
Ephorate.  The  military  leadership  was  by  far  the  most  con- 
spicuous duty  attached  to  the  office.  This  is  curious,  for 
political  experience  commonly  shows  the  opposite  case ;  one 
of  the  first  duties  to  be  taken  from  a  hereditary  office  is  the 
military  leadership,  because  of  the  peculiar  need  for  personal 
capacity  in  that  department.  But  Sparta  was  a  singularly  con- 
servative and  religious,  not  to  say  superstitious,  city,  devoted 
to  ritual,  and  firmly  believing  in  the  general's  luck.  Such  a 
people  does  not  feel  confidence  under  the  leadership  of  mere 
talent ;  it  much  prefers  to  fight  under  the  orders  of  a  de- 
scendant of  Heracles.  And  as  Spartan  warfare  was  always  a 
very  simple  business,  requiring  no  strategic  skill  in  its  direction, 
the  Spartans  were  not  likely  to  find  out  the  weakness  of  a 
hereditary  system  in  generalship.  Beyond  the  leading  of 
armies,  the  Spartan  kings  had  few  rights  or  duties.  They  had 
ex-officio  titles  to  two  of  the  thirty  seats  in  the  Gerousia,  they 
had  legal  jurisdiction  in  some  unimportant  cases  connected 
with  religion,  and  they  represented  the  state  in  certain 
festivals  and  sacrifices. 

But  the  political  executive  passed  over  in  the  fifth  and 
fourth  centuries  to  the  five  Ephors,  who  controlled  and  some- 
times even  oppressed  the  kings.  The  origin  of  this  peculiar 
and  distinctive  office  is  also  lost  in  antiquity.  Spartan  tradi- 
tion certainly  believed  in  a  time  when  the  Ephorate  was  not ; 
and  on  the  whole  the  most  probable  theory  is  that  the 
Ephorate  was  originally  created  by  the  kings  as  a  subordinate 
office.  Judging  from  actual  history,  it  is  too  much  to  say  that 
the  Ephors  were  always  supreme  over  the  kings  in  practice  ; 
nearly  all  the  great  men  of  Spartan  history — Leonidas, 
Cleomenes,  Agesilaus,  Agis,  Cleombrotus — are  its  kings,  and 
we  scarcely  know  the  name  of  a  single  Ephor.  It  was,  in  fact,  a 
long  fight  between  kings  and  Ephors  for  pre-eminence.  Asa 
general  rule  the  board  of  Ephors  no  doubt  directed  the  state's 

35 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

policy,  but  kings  like  Agesilaus  seem  to  have  had  far  more 
than  a  mere  executive  duty.    What  struck  all  observers  was 
that  Ephors  sometimes  summoned  kings  before  them  for  trial, 
sometimes  condemned  them  to  death,  and  in  ceremonial  re- 
mained seated  in  the  presence  of  the  kings.    The  fact  is  that 
at  Sparta  sovereignty  belonged  in  a  very  real  sense  to  the 
warrior  body,  and  the  Ephors  expressed  that  sovereignty,  as 
being  directly  elected  by  it.    Especially  in  judicial  matters 
they  were  supreme,  and  in  a  state  which  moved  by  clockwork 
under  the  control  of  a  rigid  discipline  and  fixed  customs,  though 
all  the  laws  were  unwritten,  the  heads  of  the  judicial  system 
naturally  held  the  reins  of  government.     The  fact  that  the 
Ephors  held  their  position  by  popular  election  is  held  to  con- 
stitute a  democratic  element  in  the  constitution.    This  gives 
rise  to  the  theory,  evolved  by  the  successors  of  Aristotle  in 
political  philosophy,  that  the  stability  of  the  Spartan  constitu- 
tion depended  on  its  nice  adjustment  of  the  three  elements  of 
polity — monarchy,  aristocracy,  and  democracy.    Sparta  was 
thus  considered  to  be  the  type  of  a  Mixed  Constitution.  From 
Sparta  the  Greek  historian  Polybius  applied  the  same  theory 
to  the  government  of  Rome.     Thence  it  was  transferred  by 
Montesquieu  to  the  British  Constitution,  and  thus  has  played, 
and  is  playing,  an  important  part  in  the  history  of  political 
science.    So  far  as  Sparta  is  concerned,  the  theory  rests  upon 
a  false  basis.    Aristotle  was  undoubtedly  right  in  terming 
Sparta  an  aristocracy,  for  the  Spartiate  body  itself  was  a 
minority  and  a  jealously  guarded  close  corporation.    Both  the 
democratic  and  the  monarchical  elements  in  the  state  were 
largely  an  illusion.     Moreover,  Aristotle  did  not  admit  the 
propriety  of  applying  the  term  democracy  to  a  state  which 
merely  had  some  choice  in  the  persons  by  whom  it  should  be 
governed.    "To  govern  and  be  governed  in  turn"  was  the 
essence  of  democracy  to  Aristotle,  and  he  would  certainly  have 
called  both  the  other  examples  of  the  Mixed  Constitution, 
ancient  Rome  and  modern  England,  aristocracies.    To  him, 
however,  aristocracy  was  the  best  kind  of  rule.    Did  it  not 
86 


Plate  ai.  CHARIOTEER  :  BRONZE  (Seep.  81)  [/.  86 


THE  AGES  OF  TRANSITION 
mean  etymologically  "government  by  the  best"?  Besides, 
there  was  the  practical  proof  of  excellence  that  Sparta  alone 
was  free  from  the  ever  endemic  Greek  disease  of  "stasis"  or 
civil  strife,  and  that  Sparta  alone  of  Greek  States  had  never 
witnessed  a  successful  revolution. 

In  the  common  meaning  of  the  term  also  Sparta  was  an 
aristocracy.  Her  citizen  body — the  Spartiates,  as  they  called 
themselves — were  always  a  minority  of  nobles,  living  armed 
and  watchful  amid  a  great  subject  population  of  serfs.  These 
Helots  were  of  the  same  blood  as  the  neighbouring  peoples  of 
Messenia  and  Arcadia — that  is  to  say,  they  are  the  aboriginal 
stratum  of  Greece — and  if  they  had  a  chance  would  no  doubt 
prove  as  intelligent  and  artistic  as  their  ancestors.  But  no 
chance  was  given  them  ;  they  were  ruthlessly  oppressed,  cruelly 
exploited,  and  there  was  an  organised  secret  service  to  remove 
any  men  of  mark  that  might  arise  from  their  ranks.  On  the 
battlefield  of  Plataea  every  Spartan  soldier  was  followed  by 
seven  Helots.  Thus  every  Spartan  is  to  be  ranked  with  the 
mediaeval  knight,  though  he  fought  on  foot.  Between  these 
two  classes  of  knights  and  serfs  there  was  also  an  intermediate 
rank — the  Neighbours,  or  Perioikoi.  If  the  theory  of  racial 
stratification  is  to  be  applied  to  them  they  must  represent  a 
pre-Dorian  wave  of  conquest,  Achaean  presumably,  which  in 
its  turn  had  to  yield,  but,  being  not  entirely  alien,  was  treated 
on  a  superior  footing.  Though  they  had  no  political  or  social 
standing,  the  Perioikoi  were  not  oppressed.  They  lived  mostly 
in  the  country  and  on  the  sea-coast.  They  provided  the 
sailors,  the  farmers,  and,  so  far  as  Laconia  had  any  trade,  the 
traders.  They  seem  to  have  been  contented  with  their  lot, 
but  we  know  singularly  little  about  them. 

The  city  of  Sparta  itself — the  only  unwalled  city  in 
Greece,  planted  on  the  banks  of  the  Eurotas,  under  Mount 
Taygetus  * — consisted,  then,  of  a  circle  of  knights  and  their 
slaves.  The  Spartiates  formed  a  very  exclusive  and  haughty 
clique  of  military  men,  extremely  narrow  and  oppressive  to 

•  Plate  23. 

87 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
those  about  and  beneath  them,  ever  vigilant  against  rebellion, 
and  conscious  that  their  spears  and  shields  had  to  take  the 
place  of  a  wall  for  Lacedaemon.  Among  themselves  they 
lived  an  absolutely  equal  communistic  life.  Their  meals  were 
provided  at  common  mess-tables,  each  a  little  club  with 
power  to  elect  and  reject  its  members.  As  this  institution 
also  prevailed  among  the  Dorians  of  Crete,  it  is  to  be 
regarded  as  something  very  ancient  and  characteristically 
Dorian.  It  meant,  of  course,  the  complete  absence  of  home 
and  family  life.  It  was  by  such  habits  that  the  Spartans 
remained  a  conquering  race,  victorious  first  over  their 
Messenian  neighbours  in  two  long  wars,  the  details  of  which 
are  legendary,  and  then  gradually  extending  their  control 
over  the  whole  Peloponnesus,  including  their  Dorian  kinsmen 
of  Argos  and  Epidaurus. 

It  is  possible  that  the  remarkable  discipline  and  asceticism 
of  Sparta  which  is  proverbially  linked  with  her  name  had 
gradually  increased.  Recent  excavations  have  shown  that 
seventh-century  Sparta  was  not  destitute  of  art.  From  the 
lyric  poets  of  the  seventh  century  we  get  glimpses  of  a 
Sparta  not  entirely  ascetic  or  contemptuous  of  culture.  On 
the  contrary,  she  is  a  patroness  of  foreign  poets  like  Tyrtseus. 
But  already  she  appreciates  most  the  martial  song  and 
dance.  It  must  be  remembered  that  in  Greece  poetry, 
music,  and  the  dance  were  far  more  closely  allied  than 
with  us.  Not  only  did  Greek  dramatists  originally  train 
their  own  choruses  in  the  dance  and  compose  their  own 
music,  but  even  Hesiod  in  that  Eubcean  competition  had  to 
chant  his  verses  aloud.  So  at  Sparta  Terpander  and  Alcman 
were  first  musicians  and  secondly  lyric  poets,  and  Tyrtaeus,  the 
Athenian  bard,  was  there  to  conduct  martial  dances  and  to 
train  the  boys  of  Sparta  in  their  musical  drill.  Thus  there 
was  no  contradiction  in  early  times  between  strict  military 
discipline  and  a  love  of  lyric  poetry.  Afterwards,  when  music 
grew  softer  and  poetry  less  martial,  the  Spartans  banished  all 
musicians  and  poets  from  their  midst,  though  they  retained 
88 


THE  AGES  OF  TRANSITION 

the  old  marching  tunes  of  antiquity.  One  of  these  poets, 
Alcman,  seems  to  have  come  to  Sparta  as  a  captive  from 
luxurious  Lydia,  and  he  does  sing  of  cakes  and  kisses,  but  the 
small  fragments  of  Tyrtaeus  are  all  military  : 

"  Come,  ye  sons  of  dauntless  Sparta, 
Warrior  sons  of  Spartan  citizens, 
With  the  left  advance  the  buckler, 
Stoutly  brandish  spears  in  right  hands, 
Sparing  not  your  lives  for  Sparta : 
Such  is  not  the  Spartan  custom." 

Terpander  praises  Sparta  for  three  things,  the  courage  of  her 
youths,  her  love  of  music,  and  her  justice.  A  Spartan 
proverb,  apparently  ancient,  runs  :  "  Sparta  will  fall  by  love 
of  wealth,  naught  else."  They  were,  and  always  remained,  a 
covetous  people  ;  but  for  that  very  reason  when  coined  money 
began  to  be  used  in  Greece  about  the  seventh  century  Sparta 
forbade  its  introduction  lest  commerce  should  taint  the 
warrior  spirit  of  her  citizens,  so  that  Sparta  had  no  coinage 
until  the  second  century,  but  continued  to  use,  where  money 
was  necessary,  the  ancient  clumsy  ingots  of  iron.  Change 
for  five  pounds  at  Sparta  needed  a  cart  to  bring  it  home. 
But  money  is  not  the  only  form  of  wealth,  and  it  is  probably 
an  Athenian  lampoon  which  represents  the  Spartan  as  living 
on  nothing  but  the  celebrated  black  soup.  As  every  Spartan 
had  his  land  (the  equality  and  inalienability  of  the  lots  is 
probably  a  later  fiction),  with  any  number  of  Helots  to  till  it( 
while  the  young  men  spent  their  leisure  in  the  chase,  there 
was  plenty  to  supply  the  Spartan  larder,  and  to  provide 
wine  and  sweetmeats  for  Lydian  poets  as  well. 

It  was  in  education  that  the  discipline  is  most  character- 
istically "  Spartan."  From  birth  to  death  the  Spartan  was  in 
the  grip  of  an  iron  system.  Indeed,  it  began  before  birth,  for 
the  Spartans  are  the  only  people  in  history  who  have  dared 
to  carry  out  the  principles  of  modern  eugenics.  They 
trained  the  bodies  of  their  girls  with  running*  and  wrestling 

•  Plate  23 

89 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
and  throwing  of  quoits  and  javelins,  that  when  the  time  came 
they  might  bear  stalwart  sons,  and  bear  them  bravely.  "  The 
Law-giver,"  says  Plutarch,  "put  away  all  coquettishness  and 
hysteria  and  effeminacy  by  making  the  girls  strip  for  pro- 
cessions, dances,  and  choruses  at  the  temples,  with  the  youths 
present  as  spectators.  This  stripping  of  the  maidens  involved 
no  shame,  for  modesty  was  there  and  lewdness  was  absent, 
but  it  produced  unaffected  manners  and  a  desire  for  physical 
fitness,  and  it  gave  the  female  sex  some  taste  of  a  not  ignoble 
pride,  in  that  they  too  had  their  share  of  manly  worth  and 
ambition  to  excel.  Whence  came  to  them  that  thought 
which  is  expressed  in  the  traditional  repartee  of  Leonidas' 
wife  Gorgo.  A  foreign  woman  remarking  to  her,  'You 
Laconians  are  the  only  women  who  rule  the  men,'  'Yes,' 
she  said,  'we  are  the  only  women  who  are  the  mothers  of 
men. 

The  strongest  moral  suasion  compelled  Spartan  men  to 
marry.  The  marriage  customs  of  Sparta  were  peculiar  and 
carry  us  back  to  the  remotest  antiquity.  The  bridegroom 
carried  off  his  bride  by  a  pretence  of  violence,  and  the  bride 
cut  her  hair  short  and  dressed  like  a  man.  There  was  no 
marriage  feast ;  the  young  husband  dined  at  his  mess-table, 
visited  his  young  wife  by  stealth,  and  returned  to  barracks. 
Sometimes  a  wife  bore  children  to  a  man  whose  face  she  had 
never  seen.  The  child  was  not  considered  to  belong  to  his 
father,  but  to  the  city.  "  The  Law-giver  thought  it  absurd  to 
take  trouble  about  the  breed  of  horses  and  dogs,  and  then  let 
the  imbecile,  the  elderly,  and  the  diseased  bear  and  beget 
children."  There  was  another  celebrated  Spartan  repartee 
about  adultery : 

"  We  have  no  adulterers  in  Sparta." 

"  Suppose  you  had,  what  is  the  penalty  ?  " 

"  The  fine  is  a  big  bull  that  jumps  over  Taygetus  and 
drinks  from  the  Eurotas." 

"  My  dear  sir,  how  could  there  be  such  a  monstrous 
animal  ?  " 
90 


THE  AGES  OF  TRANSITION 

"  My  clear  sir,  how  could  there  be  adultery  at  Sparta?" 

At  birth  the  babe  was  taken  away  from  its  parent  to  a  hall 
where  the  elders  of  the  tribe  sat  to  examine  it.  If  it  was 
plump  and  strong  they  said,  "  Rear  it."  If  not  it  was  exposed 
to  die  in  a  cleft  of  the  mountain.  "  For  they  thought  better, 
both  for  it  and  the  city,  that  it  should  die  than  that  it  should 
live  if  it  was  not  naturally  healthy  and  strong.  That  was 
why  the  women  washed  it  with  wine  instead  of  water  as  a 
test  of  its  strength."  They  had  scientific  methods  of  rearing 
babies,  no  swaddling-clothes,  no  fear  of  the  dark  or  solitude. 
Foreigners  used  to  hire  Laconian  women  for  their  nurses. 

As  soon  as  they  were  seven  years  old  the  children  were 
drafted  off  into  "  herds."  The  most  "  sensible  and  combative  " 
of  each  herd  was  made  prefect,  whose  orders  the  others  had 
to  obey  implicitly  and  suffer  his  punishments  without  wincing. 
The  older  men  watched  them  at  their  play,  and  set  them 
to  fight  one  another.  They  learnt  letters,  but  nothing  else 
except  music  and  drill.  They  walked  without  sandals,  and 
generally  played  naked. 

At  the  age  of  twelve  they  were  allowed  one  mantle  a  year, 
no  tunic.  "  They  had  no  experience  of  baths  and  unguents  ; 
only  for  a  few  days  each  year  they  were  allowed  such  luxuries." 
They  slept  in  their  herds  on  rushes,  which  they  had  to  cut 
from  the  river-banks.  "  In  winter  they  used  to  mix  thistles 
with  their  bedding,  from  the  idea  that  there  was  some  warmth 
in  them."  At  this  age  they  began  to  associate  with  older 
youths  on  those  curious  terms  of  male  love  peculiar  to  the 
Greeks.  Their  elders  would  take  a  fatherly  interest  in  the 
achievements  of  their  beloved,  chastise  and  encourage  them. 

Also,  there  was  a  public  tutor  appointed  from  among  the 
grown-up  nobles  for  each  "herd,"  as  well  as  prefects  from  the 
wisest  and  most  warlike  of  the  youths  of  twenty.  The  latter 
had  his  "fags"  entirely  under  his  orders.  Stealing  of  food 
was  encouraged  as  a  martial  virtue  likely  to  lead  to  sharpening 
the  wits  for  warlike  purposes.  In  a  state  which  practised 
communism  there  was,  of  course,  no  dishonesty  involved. 

91 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

If  they  were  caught  they  were  thrashed  for  their  bad  steal- 
ing. To  encourage  theft,  their  public  rations  were  kept  short. 
They  were  also  thrashed  for  the  good  of  their  souls,  to  en- 
courage endurance.  "  We  have  seen  many  of  the  youths  die 
under  the  blows  at  the  altar  of  Artemis  the  Upright,"  says 
Plutarch,  or  rather  the  authority  he  is  quoting.  But  modern 
students  consider  that  this  flagellation  at  the  altar  was  prob- 
ably a  religious  ritual,  of  which  there  are  many  other  examples. 
If  the  beater  spared  his  victim  the  goddess  manifested  her 
displeasure. 

After  mess,  at  which  he  was  waited  on  by  his  fags,  the 
prefect  would  address  himself  to  their  intellectual  education. 
Some  had  to  sing,  to  others  he  would  put  questions  in  ethical 
casuistry.  "Who  is  the  best  of  the  men?"  "What  do  you 
think  of  this  or  that  action  ?  "  The  answer  had  to  be  brief 
and  pointed — "  Laconic,"  in  fact.  The  boy  had  to  give  reasons 
for  his  answer.  A  bad  answer  was  punished  by  a  bite  on  the 
back  of  the  hand,  but  if  older  men  were  present  the  prefect 
had  to  justify  his  punishments.  If  a  boy  cried  out  ignobly  in 
fighting,  his  lover  was  punished  also.  But  the  real  source  of 
their  education  was  in  music,  marching  songs,  and  hymns  in 
praise  of  the  heroes  of  Spartan  history.  One  such  song  is 
preserved : 

"Old  Men.  We  were  warriors  of  old. 
"Men.  As  we  are.    Who  doubts?  Behold. 
"  Boys.  Some  day  we  shall  be  more  bold." 

Laconic,  but  Spartan ! 

The  Spartan  youths  did  not  neglect  their  personal  appear- 
ance, especially  in  the  matter  of  fine  armour.  They  prided 
themselves  on  their  long  and  well-groomed  hair.  In  the  pass 
of  Thermopylae  the  Persian  monarch  was  astonished  to  see 
the  three  hundred  Spartans,  who  ought  to  have  been  trembling 
and  saying  their  prayers,  carefully  combing  their  long  hair. 
In  war-time  discipline  was  relaxed.  When  the  line  of  battle  was 
drawn  up  in  the  face  of  the  enemy,  first  the  king  sacrificed  a 
92 


Andtrtm 


Pi. atk  23.    RUNNIMi  C1RL 
(See  p.  89) 


[/.  92 


THE  AGES  OF  TRANSITION 
goat,  and  the  warriors  crowned  themselves  with  garlands  of 
flowers,  while  the  flute-players  played  the  song  of  Kastor.' 
Then  they  stepped  forward  gravely  to  the  sound  of  the  march- 
ing paean,  all  in  step,  without  disorder  or  confusion,  but  "led 
gently  and  cheerfully  by  the  music  into  danger."  There  was 
no  fear,  for  the  hymn  "  made  them  feel  that  the  god  was  with 
them."  When  they  had  routed  their  enemy  they  only  pursued 
so  far  as  to  assure  defeat,  "considering  it  neither  gentlemanly 
nor  Hellenic  to  cut  and  slay  those  who  yielded  and  retired." 
This  was  the  spirit  of  all  their  warfare ;  they  never  destroyed 
a  beaten  city. 

As  soon  as  they  were  of  military  age  the  army  and  the 
secret  police  took  most  of  their  time  and  thought.    Arts,  crafts, 
and  business  they  considered  the  work  of  slaves.  Dancing, 
singing,  modest  banquets,  and  hunting  were  their  relaxations. 
It  was  not  until  the  age  of  thirty  that  a  Spartan  could  go  into 
the  agora  and  enjoy  his  rights  as  a  citizen.    Even  then 
lounging  in  the  market-place  was  not  encouraged  ;  most  of 
the  day  was  spent  in  the  gymnasiums  and  clubs.  There 
was  no  private  family  life  whatever.    King  Agis,  coming 
back  victorious  from  a  campaign,  asked  permission  to  dine 
with  his  wife.    It  was  refused  by  the  Ephors,  whose  power, 
no  doubt,  was  derived  from  their  position  as  overseers  of  this 
singular  disciplinary  system.    The  old  men  were  highly 
honoured,  and  the  supreme  object  of  an  old  Spartan's  ambi- 
tion was  a  seat  on  the  Senate. 

And  what  type  of  character  did  this  strange  system  pro- 
duce ?  Well,  it  produced  the  three  hundred  warriors  who 
died  to  a  man  round  their  king  Leonidas  at  the  pass  of 
Thermopylae.  It  produced  the  Spartan  king  who  refused 
the  request  of  his  allies  to  destroy  Athens.  It  produced  the 
women  who  mourned  after  the  great  defeat  of  Mantinca 
because  no  sons  or  husbands  of  theirs  had  died  for  Sparta.  It 
produced  the  only  good  infantry  of  Greece,  and  the  only  stable 
form  of  government.  It  produced  good  men  like  Brasidas  and 
Gylippus.    Sparta  was  the  state  that  swept  tyranny  out  of 

93 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
Greece,  and  bore  the  brunt  of  the  land-fighting  against  the 
Persians.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  the  system  encouraged  that 
stupid  and  bigoted  conservatism  which  ruined  Sparta,  partly 
through  refusing  to  learn  anything  new  in  the  art  of  warfare, 
and  partly  through  declining  to  supplement  the  dwindling 
warrior  caste  by  extending  the  franchise  to  the  other  inhabi- 
tants of  Sparta.  No  doubt,  also,  the  strict  discipline  of  life  in 
the  city  led  to  the  moral  breakdown  of  her  victorious  generals 
Pausanias  and  Lysander  when  they  came  in  contact  with  the 
fascinations  of  Eastern  luxury.  It  made  the  Spartans 
oppressive  and  unjust  when  they  had  to  govern  an  empire. 
The  typical  Spartan  is  narrow-minded,  superstitious,  and 
covetous,  but  he  is  always  brave,  patriotic,  and  often  chivalrous. 
Sparta  has  left  us  no  art  or  literature,  but  she  has  left  us  an 
extraordinary  experiment  (for  a  warning)  of  aristocratic  com- 
munism combined  with  unfettered  militarism. 

Pallas  Athene 

Sparta  and  Athens  are  the  counterparts  and  complements 
of  one  another :  Sparta  drilled,  orderly,  efficient,  and  dull ; 
Athens  free,  noisy,  fickle,  and  brilliant.  Sparta's  watchword 
in  history  is  Eunomia  (order) ;  the  motto  of  Athens  is  Eleu- 
theria  (liberty)  and  Parrhesia  (free  speech  and  free  thought). 
But  Sparta  was  orderly  and  powerful  over  all  the  Peloponnese 
long  before  Athens  was  free  or  cultured. 

Both  Apollo  and  Athena  were  deities  specially  concerned 
with  cities  and  good  government.  If  Apollo  was  the  god  of 
prophecy,  music,  poetry,  and  athletics,  Athena's  arts  were  those 
of  the  craftsman,  the  potter,  and  the  weaver.  Athena,  though 
a  fair,  grey-eyed  goddess,  was  nevertheless  an  enemy  to  love, 
wise  in  counsel  and  fond  of  battle.  So  strictly  maidenly  was 
she  that  they  gave  her  a  virgin  birth.  No  female  had  a  hand 
in  her  making,  for  she  sprang  fully  armed  from  the  head  of 
Zeus  at  a  blow  from  the  hammer  of  Hephaestus.  That  was 
the  scene  depicted  on  the  front  gable  of  the  Parthenon.  The 
worship  of  Athena  is  singularly  pure  and  civilised;  it  is  almost 
94 


PLATE  24.    ATHENA  I'KOMACHOS.    FROM  A  PAN  A  TH  ENAIC 

AMPHORA    (See  \>.  95)  \p.  w 


THE  AGES  OF  TRANSITION 
entirely  free  from  magic  and  mystery,  for  Athena  is  em- 
phatically a  civic  goddess,  having  hardly  any  connection  with 
the  powers  of  Nature.  She  is  pure  intellect.  True,  she  has 
a  pugnacious  aspect,  she  is  armed  with  spear  and  shield,  and 
with  a  breastplate,  or  aegis,  bearing  the  Gorgon's  head  and 
snaky  coils  of  hair.*  It  has  been  ingeniously  suggested  that 
the  aegis  had  been  evolved  by  art  from  the  skin  of  a  beast 
worn  over  the  shoulders,  with  the  fierce  head  hanging  over  the 
breast  of  the  wearer,  and  the  legend  of  Medusa  the  Gorgon 
invented  to  explain  it.  Anyhow,  Athena  is  a  hoplite  goddess. 
Whatever  connection  she  may  have  with  water  elsewhere,  at 
Athens  she  is  armed  for  land  warfare. 

All  these  signs  convince  us  that  the  Athena  worshipped 
on  the  Acropolis  of  Athens  is  not  a  primitive  goddess.  Her 
character,  her  weapons,  and  her  cult  all  point  to  a  Northern 
origin,  like  that  of  Zeus  and  Apollo.  Moreover,  we  have,  in 
the  legend  of  her  successful  strife  with  Poseidon  for  the 
patronage  of  the  city,  a  clear  account  of  her  importation,  and 
she  shared  a  temple  with  the  old  earth-born  hero  of  Athens, 
Erechtheus.  How  then  did  she  come  to  give  her  name  to 
the  city?  Is  it  true  that  Athens  had  been  called  Cecropia  in 
times  past?  It  is  hard  to  believe  that  the  goddess  was  called 
after  the  city,  for  there  were  strong  local  cults  of  Athena 
elsewhere,  so  markedly  individual  in  character  that  the  name 
cannot  have  been  due  to  a  mere  identification  of  local  heroines 
with  the  famous  goddess  of  a  famous  city.  It  is  not  in  the  least 
likely  that  the  Spartans,  of  all  people,  would  call  the  goddess 
who  played  a  very  important  part  in  the  life  of  their  State  by 
the  name  of  an  essentially  Athenian  deity.  Nor,  again,  can  we 
believe  that  a  goddess  could  completely  change  her  character 
and  become  civilised  without  leaving  distinct  traces  of  her 
past.  The  only  conclusion  is  that  Pallas  Athene  was  an 
Achaean  goddess  who  came  rather  late  upon  the  Acropolis  of 
Athens.  It  is  true  that  the  Athenians  boasted  themselves  to 
be  an  aboriginal  people  of  the  old  stock,  and  it  is  very 

♦  Plate  24. 

95 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
probable  that  the  main  bodies  of  Northern  invaders  did, 
as  Thucydides  alleges,  pass  by  that  stony  promontory  of 
Attica  as  beneath  notice.  But  they  can  hardly  have  left  a 
strong  citadel  unconquered,  and  though  Athens  and  her  king 
Menestheus  play  a  rather  humble  part  in  the  Iliad,  yet  there 
was  an  Athenian  contingent  in  the  Achaean  host.  It  is 
probable  that  Athens  received  an  Achaean  king  and  that 
the  Acropolis  itself  passed  into  Achaean  hands.  But  the 
population  of  Attica  received  little  Northern  intermixture. 
Herodotus  tells  us  that  the  Athenian  maidens  going  down 
from  the  citadel  to  draw  water  were  liable  to  constant  attacks 
from  the  Pelasgians  who  lived  on  Mount  Hymettus. 

In  all  the  elaborate  rebuilding  of  Periclean  days  the  rock 
of  Acropolis  was  pretty  thoroughly  scoured  of  ancient  remains. 
But  we  still  see  traces  of  Cyclopean  masonry,  as  at  Tiryns 
and  Mycenae,  forming  what  the  Athenians  called  "  the 
Pelasgic  Wall."  To  that  period  belong  such  traditional 
royalties  as  Cecrops,  Erechtheus,  and  Pandion,  possibly  real 
names  of  prehistoric  kings  who  ruled  over  the  rock  and 
part  of  the  plain  below,  but  by  no  means  over  the  whole  of 
Attica.  In  artistic  representation  these  ancient  worthies  are 
rather  apt  to  develop  serpents'  tails  in  place  of  their  lower 
limbs.  As  they  worshipped  Poseidon,  we  may  be  sure  that 
these  Cecropians  or  Pelasgians  were  a  trading,  seafaring 
people,  having  intercourse  with  Crete  and  their  kinsmen  of 
Caria  and  Ionia.  Poseidon  was  always  the  common  deity  of 
the  Ionian  people,  who  looked  to  Athens  as  their  head, 
probably  because  she  had  suffered  so  little  infusion  of 
Northern  blood.  It  is  not  likely  that  Athens  was  ever  a 
citadel  of  equal  importance  with  Mycenae  or  Cnossos  in  pre- 
Achaean  days.  Attica  has  yielded  but  few  important  relics 
of  the  Bronze  Age,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  the  Attic  sites 
contain  an  unbroken  series  of  artistic  design  in  pottfcry  from 
the  earliest  to  the  latest  times. 

The  great  legendary  King  of  Athens  was  Theseus,  a 
figure  much  embroidered  by  later  mythologists  because  he 
96 


English  Photo  Co.,  A  thrill 


5.   DEMETER,  PERSEPHONE,  AND  TRIPTOLEMUS 

[BLBUSINIAN  RELIEF]    (Sec  pp.  98  ami  160)  [A96 


THE  AGES  OF  TRANSITION 
had  been  made  the  patron  hero  of  the  Athenian  democracy 
and  the  syncecist  of  Athens — that  is,  the  man  who  made 
Attica  into  a  city-state  instead  of  a  congeries  of  village  demes. 
That  is  certainly  not  history.  All  the  legends  seem  to  admit 
that  Theseus  was  originally  an  alien.  His  descendants  were 
said  to  have  been  driven  out  by  the  Homeric  King  of  Athens 
Menestheus.  After  the  Persian  wars  the  bones  of  a  giant 
were  discovered  in  the  island  of  Scyros ;  they  were  at  once 
recognised  as  those  of  Theseus,  and  brought  with  great 
ceremony  to  be  reinterred  at  Athens. 

During  this  Achaean  period  the  Athenians  seem  to  have 
largely  deserted  the  sea  for  agriculture  and  olive-culture.  It 
will  be  remembered  that  Athena's  gift  to  the  city  by  which 
she  outbid  the  sea-god  was  the  olive-tree.  Of  course  there 
were  still  fishermen  on  the  coast,  but  when  history  begins 
dimly  in  the  seventh  century  Athens  is  mainly  agricultural 
and  by  no  means  yet  a  city-state.  She  was  not  yet  a 
fully  developed  city-state  when  Sparta  had  long  been  settled 
in  government  and  had  already  extended  her  hegemony  over 
the  whole  Peloponnesus.  By  this  time  the  Athenian  king- 
ship had  dissolved  into  aristocracy,  and  the  aristocrats,  or 
Eupatridae,  were  a  clique  of  oppressive  landowners  whose 
farms  were  largely  worked  for  them,  as  at  Sparta,  on  the 
mitayer  system,  by  which  the  tenant  pays  a  certain  pro- 
portion of  the  produce  to  the  proprietor.  The  troubles  which 
Solon  had  to  face  were  agrarian  troubles  connected  with 
boundary-stones.  He  reckons  property  in  bushels  of  corn 
and  oil.  His  enactments,  or  the  ancient  laws  which  pass 
under  his  name,  are  largely  concerned  with  dogs  and  wolves 
and  olive-culture.  The  only  export  permitted  is  that  of  olive 
oil.  Even  after  Solon  the  local  parties  that  divide  the  state 
are  not  divisions  of  city-dwellers,  but  of  country  folk — the 
shepherds  of  the  hills,  the  farmers  of  the  plain,  and  the 
fishermen  of  the  coast.  These  facts  emerge  in  despite  of 
subsequent  Athenian  historians,  who,  to  please  the  amour 
propre  of  a  democratic  city,  tried  to  make  out  that  democracy 

G  97 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
had  existed  long  before  the  tyranny  of  Peisistratus — in  fact,  as 
far  back  as  Theseus,  and  certainly  Solon.  But  it  is  fairly  clear 
to  any  one  discounting  this  tendency  and  reading  their  early 
traditions  impartially  that  until  the  time  of  the  tyrants  Attica 
was  by  no  means  a  true  city-state,  much  less  a  democracy. 
Until  city  life  was  developed  democracy  was  impossible. 

Strange  relics  of  this  agricultural  life  survive  in  the  re- 
ligious customs  of  Athens — as,  for  example,  in  the  sacrifice 
called  Diipolia  or  Ox-murder.  "They  choose,"  says  Por- 
phyry, "some  girls  as  water-carriers,  and  they  bring  water 
for  sharpening  the  axe  and  the  knife.  When  the  axe  has 
been  sharpened  one  person  hands  it  and  another  hits  the  ox, 
another  slaughters  him,  others  flay  him,  and  they  all  partake 
of  him.  After  this  they  sew  up  the  hide  of  the  ox  and  stuff 
it  with  hay  and  set  it  up,  just  like  life,  and  yoke  it  to  the 
plough  as  if  it  were  going  to  draw  it.  A  trial  is  held  about 
the  murder,  and  each  passes  on  the  blame  for  the  deed  to 
another.  The  water-carriers  accuse  those  who  sharpened 
the  knife,  the  sharpeners  blame  the  man  who  handed  it,  he 
passes  the  guilt  on  to  the  man  who  struck,  the  striker  to  the 
slaughterer,  the  slaughterer  blames  the  knife  itself;  and  the 
knife,  as  it  cannot  speak,  is  found  guilty  and  thrown  into  the 
sea."  All  these  offices  are  held  in  certain  families  by  hereditary 
right.  The  whole  ceremony  clearly  points  back  to  days  when 
the  ploughing  ox  was  held  sacred.  The  older  worship  of 
Attica  is  all  agricultural.  The  Eleusinian  mysteries  are  in 
honour  of  Demeter  (the  Earth-Mother),  Kore\  her  daughter, 
also  called  Persephone,  and  Triptolemus,  who  brought  corn 
from  Egypt.*  There  are  the  Athenian  mysteries  called 
Thesmophoria,  in  which  the  women  cast  mysterious  objects, 
really  pieces  of  decayed  pig  and  dough  in  the  shape  of  snakes 
and  men,  into  clefts  in  the  earth.  They  were  intended  to  pro- 
duce fertility  in  fields  and  women.  There  was  the  Hersephoria 
also,  in  which  maidens  carried  baskets  containing  objects  whose 
nature  they  must  not  know  to  the  precinct  of  the  goddess  of 

*  Plate  25. 

98 


I-Hglish  Photo  Co.,  Athens 

Plate  26.    ATHEN AJPOLIAS :  BRONZE 

(Sec  p.  102)  [/.  98 


THE  AGES  OF  TRANSITION 
child-birth.  Tradition  said  that  two  girls  did  peep  in,  and 
saw  a  child  and  a  snake,  which  pursued  and  killed  them. 
The  Skirophoria  was  similar ;  it  included  a  rite  of  daubing 
the  image  of  Pallas  with  the  white  clay  which  was  used  as  a 
dressing  for  olive-trees.  There  was  another  ceremony  in 
which  young  girls  dressed  as  bears  danced  in  honour  of  Artemis 
of  Brauron.  There  were  the  three  sacred  ploughings  of 
Attic  soil  every  year.  Besides  snake-heroes  and  snake-kings, 
there  was  the  wolf-god  who  became  identified  with  Apollo, 
and  the  goat-god  Pan.  It  is  possible  that  Athena's  owl  is  a 
relic  of  those  days  of  Nature-worship.  Most  of  these  cults 
are  Attic  rather  than  Athenian,  and  are  specially  localised  in 
the  country  demes.  They  visibly  belong  to  the  same  religious 
area  as  the  snaky  figures  of  Cnossos  ;  and,  indeed,  Crete  figures 
largely  in  the  mythology  of  this  period.  Anthropomorphic 
religion  probably  began  at  Athens  with  a  rude  female  xoanon, 
or  wooden  pillar-like  statue,  who  received  in  due  course  the 
name  of  the  warrior  maiden  as  Athena  Polias. 

Athens  thus  comes  rather  late  into  Greek  history.  Only 
two  facts  stand  out  with  any  clearness  from  the  period  before 
the  sixth-century  tyrannies  :  the  attempted  tyranny  of  Cylon 
and  the  early  law-giving.  Both  these  facts  were  recalled  by 
events  of  subsequent  history.  The  attempt  of  Cylon  involved 
a  curse  upon  one  of  the  greatest  of  Athenian  families,  the 
Alcmseonids,  to  which  belonged  celebrated  names  like 
Megacles,  Cleisthenes,  Pericles,  and  Alcibiades.  The  Law- 
givers of  Athens  are  indeed  historical  personages,  which  is 
more  than  we  can  say  with  any  confidence  for  the  Spartan 
Law-giver  Lycurgus,  but  they  have  served  as  pegs  for  much 
legend  and  a  good  deal  of  deliberate  falsification.  Athens 
undoubtedly  possessed  ancient  wooden  tablets  of  laws  (though 
it  is  rather  a  question  whether  they  could  have  survived  the 
two  burnings  of  Athens  by  the  Persians),  and  some  of  these 
laws  probably  bore  the  names  of  Dracon  and  Solon  ;  but  it  is 
very  certain  that  later  orators  lent  weight  to  any  old  law 
they  wished  to  quote  with  approval,  by  giving  it  one  of 

99 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
these  respectable  names.  On  the  other  hand  we  know  that 
when  Athenian  writers  began  to  take  an  interest  in  con- 
stitutional history,  which  was  not  until  two  hundred  years 
ater,  they  used  Dracon  and  Solon  to  father  their  own 
theories,  because  it  was  possible  to  form  the  most  conflicting 
views  of  what  those  legislators  had  really  done.  One  great 
point  was  to  make  out  that  the  democracy  was  as  old  as  the 
hills,  and  in  this  sense  Solon  was  made  the  inventor  of  the 
Assembly,  the  Council,  and  even  the  popular  jury  courts. 
Some  ascribed  to  him  the  invention  of  the  old  Council  of  the 
Areopagus.  Others  maintained  that  Solon  was  not  a  democrat, 
but  the  author  of  a  limited  franchise  on  a  property  basis — in 
fact,  of  just  the  system  that  Theramenes  and  his  party  were 
proposing  in  404  b.c.  Others,  again,  went  one  better,  and 
attributed  a  democratic  system  to  Dracon,  a  still  earlier  Law- 
giver, in  spite  of  the  fact  that  Solon  had  abolished  all  his  laws 
except  those  about  murder  and  blood-guiltiness.  Thucydides, 
however,  being  a  scientifically  minded  historian  with  an  impar- 
tial love  of  truth,  passes  over  this  early  period  with  the  remark 
that  people  will  accept  without  testing  any  sort  of  traditions 
even  when  they  concern  their  own  country.  And  that  is  the 
right  attitude  for  us.  There  were  no  historians  until  the  fifth 
century,  no  contemporary  records  whatever,  except  a  very 
few  ancient  inscriptions,  and  the  work  of  the  lyric  poets  who 
flourished  in  the  eighth,  seventh,  and  sixth  centuries.  We 
have,  indeed,  a  considerable  bulk  of  poetry  which  passes  under 
the  name  of  Solon.  Some  of  it  is  not  above  suspicion,  for  it 
includes  a  so-called  prelude  to  a  versified  edition  of  his  laws, 
and  other  lines  written  in  a  tone  very  unsuitable  to  a  philo- 
sopher. But  from  the  undoubtedly  genuine  portion  we  gather 
that  Solon,  so  far  from  being  an  impartial  mediator,  collected 
a  popular  following,  vehemently  attacked  the  rich,  and  then 
"gave  to  the  people  so  much  power  as  sufficeth,  neither 
diminishing  nor  increasing  their  honour."  His  principal  work 
was  to  codify  the  laws  which  had  hitherto  existed  only  in  the 
bosoms  of  the  nobles.  He  did  a  great  deal  to  fix  the  existing 
100 


THE  AGES  OF  TRANSITION 
social  classes  in  Athens  by  arranging  the  people  in  four  ranks 
according  to  their  property,  reckoned,  of  course,  on  the  basis 
of  land-holding.  And  he  removed  agrarian  grievances  by 
forbidding  loans  on  the  security  of  the  person,  a  custom  which 
had  led  to  the  actual  enslaving  of  the  poor  by  the  rich  land- 
owners. In  these  ways  he  did  an  immense  service  to  the 
future  liberty  of  his  country.  Even  a  cautious  estimate  of 
his  work  makes  him  a  very  great  man.  But  he  was  not  the 
inventor  of  democracy. 

His  personality  is  hopelessly  involved  in  legend.  He  is 
one  of  the  Seven  Sages,  doubtless  real  personalities  whose 
names  have  served  as  a  peg  for  the  inventive  faculties  of  the 
Greeks.  Some  of  them  were  natural  philosophers,  like  Thales 
of  Miletus,  whose  knowledge  of  astronomy  was  so  exact  that 
he  predicted  the  eclipse  of  585  B.C.  He  is  said  to  have  learnt 
his  scientific  knowledge,  as  Solon  is  said  to  have  learnt  his 
legislative  skill,  in  Egypt,  where  he  measured  the  height  of  the 
pyramids  by  their  shadow.  There  is  very  likely  a  substratum 
of  truth  in  the  stories  which  make  the  birth,  or  rather  the 
revival,  of  learning  in  Greece  come  from  Egypt  and  Crete. 
Thales  knew  that  the  light  of  the  moon  came  from  the  sun. 
He  was  the  first  of  those  natural  philosophers  of  Greece  whose 
main  object  was  to  find  the  "principle"  of  the  universe. 
Thales  held  that  all  things  originated  from  water.  Another 
of  the  Seven  was  Bias  of  Priene,  whose  activities  were  mainly 
political,  and  who  invented  maxims  like  "  He  is  unfortunate 
who  cannot  bear  misfortune,"  and  "If  thou  hast  done  a  good 
deed,  ascribe  it  to  the  gods."  At  least  two  of  the  other  four 
were  tyrants.  Solon  is  also  associated  with  a  curious  figure 
who  went  about  expounding  religion  and  conducting  purifica- 
tory rites,  Epimenides  the  Cretan,  who  was  supposed  to  have 
lived  for  fifty  years  in  a  cave  on  nothing  but  asphodels  and 
water,  the  father  of  all  hermits.  Whatever  constitutional 
enactments  Solon  did  make  never  had  time  to  get  into  work- 
ing order ;  for  the  tyranny  of  Peisistratus  and  his  sons  followed 
almost  immediately. 

101 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
To  return  to  the  goddess :  only  two  passages  of  Homer 
refer  to  Athens,  and  both  were  probably  interpolated  at  the 
editing  of  Homer  in  the  days  of  Peisistratus.  Both  allude  to 
the  connection  between  Athena  and  Erechtheus.  The  goddess 
is  described  in  one  place  as  visiting  "the  goodly  house  of 
Erechtheus,"  which  probably  means  the  old  Pelasgian  palace  on 
the  Acropolis ;  in  the  other  she  has  received  Erechtheus,  the 
son  of  Earth,  into  "  her  own  rich  shrine."  Modern  criticism, 
however,  is  apt  to  reverse  the  relationship  of  host  and  guest — 
Erechtheus  the  earth-born  was  the  prehistoric  hero,  Athena 
the  Olympian  interloper.  The  early  shrine  of  Athena  upon 
the  Acropolis  has  quite  recently  been  discovered  on  the  north 
side  of  the  plateau  by  Dorpfeld.  It  would  seem  to  have  been 
a  building  of  the  sixth  century  or  earlier,  and  to  have  been 
surrounded  with  a  peristyle  of  columns  by  a  later  hand — whose 
we  shall  presently  see.  This  is  the  "  old  temple  "  superseded 
for  cult  purposes  by  the  Parthenon.  Our  "  Erechtheum,"  so 
well  known  for  its  caryatid  porch,  was  built  right  up  against 
this  old  temple,  so  that  the  caryatid  porch  juts  out  over  the 
stylobate  of  it.  In  the  old  temple  was  the  old  cult  image  of 
the  goddess  afterwards  replaced  by  the  splendid  creation  of 
Pheidias.  It  was  a  xoanon,  or  pillar  statue,  of  olive-wood,  in 
a  standing  posture,  its  rude  shape  doubtless  concealed  with 
offered  drapery.  It  was  armed  with  spear,  shield,  aegis,  and 
helmet,  and  stood  in  act  to  strike.  As  the  illustration* 
shows,  this  became  a  favourite  motive  in  the  portraiture  of  the 
goddess ;  she  stands  there  as  the  champion  and  protectress 
of  the  city.  Athena  Polias  is  her  fitting  title.  Pheidias 
idealised  this  type  in  his  Athena  Promachos.  But  it  does  not 
seem  to  be  very  ancient.  Probably  Athens,  like  Troy,  had 
possessed  an  earlier  seated  Pallas,  upon  whose  knees  the 
women  laid  their  embroidered  "peplos."  Nothing  in  art  or 
ritual  need  make  us  doubt  that  Pallas  Athene  was  far  from 
aboriginal  in  Athens,  that  she  came  in  with  the  Achaeans,  and 
that  it  was  not  until  Athens  became  a  real  city-state,  with 

*  Plate  26. 

102 


THE  AGES  OF  TRANSITION 
civic  worship  of  an  idealised  type,  that  the  great  vogue  of  the 
Virgin  began  on  the  Acropolis. 

Tyranny  and  Culture 

All  this  time  art  has  been  slowly  reviving.  Lyric  poetry 
and  music  had  found  a  patroness  in  the  advancing  city  of 
Sparta.  The  Heroic  and  Olympian  cults  which  were  fostered 
by  the  epic  poets  and  by  the  influence  of  the  Delphic  oracle 
undoubtedly  gave  an  impetus  to  art,  partly  by  requiring  temples 
and  temple  statues,  and  partly  by  fixing  certain  artistic  types 
for  the  principal  deities.  Even  the  potter,  though  he  is  still 
where  we  left  him  in  the  Dipylon  and  Geometric  styles  of 
ornament,  begins  to  depict  the  heroic  mythology,  and  to  evolve 
types  which  can  be  imitated  and  improved.  This  fixing  of 
types  or  motives  was  essential  to  the  progress  of  ancient  art. 
The  Greek  sculptor  does  not  carve  a  statue,  as  novel  and 
original  as  possible,  to  send  to  an  exhibition  of  art.  He  is 
commissioned  to  make,  we  will  say,  an  Athena ;  in  that  case 
he  has  to  express  the  armour,  the  aegis,  the  owl,  perhaps  the 
snake.  He  tries,  indeed,  to  make  the  goddess  as  lovely  and 
strong  and  benignant  as  he  can.  Perhaps  he  is  allowed  to 
choose  between  the  Polias  type  or  the  seated  statue,  but  in 
any  case  the  type  is  fixed  for  him.  Or  he  may  be  asked  to 
make  an  athlete  statue  ;  in  that  case  he  will  have  to  carve  a 
nude  male  figure  as  physically  perfect  as  possible,  in  an  athletic 
attitude.  He  will  not  be  asked,  yet,  to  portray  accidental 
facts,  such  as  the  lineaments  of  the  particular  man  the  statue 
is  to  honour.  That  is  how,  by  concentrating  on  a  limited 
number  of  motives,  Greek  art  succeeded  in  a  few  generations 
in  approaching  so  near  to  perfection. 

Show  me  the  patron,  and  I  will  show  you  the  style  of  art 
which  will  prevail.  The  horse-riding  aristocracies  of  Northern 
ancestry,  who  prevailed  everywhere  in  Greece  in  the  eighth 
century,  cared  little  for  art.  Poetry  they  could  enjoy,  if  it 
sang  the  praises  of  their  ancestors,  or  if  it  cheered  them  at 
their  cups.    Hence  the  popularity  of  Homer  and  the  Homeridae 

103 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

and  Hesiod  on  the  one  hand,  of  Archilochus,  Simonides,  and 
Alcman  on  the  other.  But  these  little  "  Basileis  "  were  not 
kings  enough  to  keep  courts  where  art  could  flourish  without 
starving,  and  as  yet  there  were  few  cities  great  enough  to 
supply  the  want  of  a  patron.  Once  more  we  must  look  to 
politics  if  we  wish  to  understand  the  revival  of  art. 

The  little  states  of  old,  with  their  natural  citadels,  provided 
a  splendid  opportunity  for  any  ambitious  and  unscrupulous 
person  who  wished  to  make  himself  tyrant.  All  you  had  to 
do  was  to  stand  forth  as  champion  of  the  oppressed  "demos" 
against  the  oppressive  aristocracy,  declare  that  your  life  was  in 
danger,  acquire  a  bodyguard  of  a  few  score  stout  knaves  armed 
with  spears,  or  even  cudgels,  then  seize  the  citadel,  and,  if  you 
had  not  forgotten  provisions,  you  were  an  established  tyrant. 
It  was  a  simple  trick  that  was  often  tried  in  Greek  history,  and 
it  nearly  always  succeeded.  For  example,  at  Corinth  there 
was  a  singularly  offensive  aristocracy  called  Bacchiads.  One 
of  them  had  a  deformed  daughter  who  was  permitted  to  marry 
beneath  her.  Her  son,  Cypselus,  was  not  received  in  Bacchiad 
circles ;  he  felt  aggrieved,  and  he  adopted  the  programme  I 
have  indicated.  He  founded  a  little  dynasty  which  lasted 
more  than  seventy  years,  until  it  was  put  down  by  the  Spartans 
in  581  B.C.  The  same  thing  had  happened  a  little  earlier  at 
Sicyon  ;  it  was  repeated  at  Megara  a  little  later,  and  at  Epidau- 
rus.  At  Athens  the  first  attempt  by  Cylon,  about  621,  failed  ; 
at  Miletus  a  similar  attempt  succeeded.  In  the  sixth  century 
tyranny  broke  out  everywhere  in  Sicily.  In  560  Athens 
followed  suit  with  the  tyranny  of  Peisistratus.  Polycrates  of 
Samos  comes  about  thirty  years  later.  Thus  many  states  in 
Greece  went  through  the  tyrannical  phase  about  this  time. 

Although  the  Greeks,  to  their  eternal  honour,  ever  after- 
wards detested  the  name  of  tyrant,  and  although  they  tried  to 
expunge  the  benefits  they  owed  to  them  from  the  tablets 
of  their  history,  yet  we  can  see  that  tyranny  was  a  valuable, 
almost  a  necessary,  stage  in  the  progress  of  the  Greek  state. 
Anything  is  better  than  aristocracy  of  the  Bacchiad  type  :  even 
104 


THE  AGES  OF  TRANSITION 
a  tyrant  has  the  merit  of  possessing  a  single  throat.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  most  of  the  Greek  tyrants,  with  the  exception  of 
Phalaris  of  Acragas,  who  had  a  habit  of  roasting  his  subjects  in 
a  brazen  bull,  were  intelligent  and  not  oppressive  rulers.  They 
were  able  to  form  a  consistent  foreign  policy,  which  is  always 
the  strong  point  of  autocracies,  to  found  colonies,  acquire 
empires,  form  alliancies,  and  marry  their  neighbours'  daughters. 
We  hear  of  tyrants  having  relations  with  Egypt  and  Lydia, 
and  importing  copper  from  Spain.  At  home  they  policed 
their  cities  and  made  them  appreciate  the  benefits  of  order. 
Above  all,  no  doubt  from  sordid  motives,  they  encouraged 
commerce.  The  flourishing  commerce  of  Minoan  days  had 
ceased  with  the  end  of  the  thalassocracy.  Piracy  had  become 
rife  on  the  ^Egean,  as  we  see  in  Homer,  where  no  visitor  thinks 
it  impolite  to  be  asked  whether  he  is  or  is  not  a  pirate.  For 
art  and  literature,  here  at  last  were  the  patrons.  It  is  under 
the  tyrants  of  the  late  seventh  and  sixth  centuries  that  the 
art  revival  begins. 

Corinth,  with  her  mighty  natural  fortress,  more  than  a  mile  in 
circuit  and  1800  feet  high,  her  two  seas  and  her  command  over 
a  narrow  isthmus,  was  admirably  situated  for  commerce.  She 
was  one  of  the  earliest  states  to  develop  a  tyranny,  to  found 
an  empire,  and  to  revive  the  arts.  Her  colonies  were  mostly 
towards  the  west,  and  in  Corcyra  she  had  a  valuable  stepping- 
stone  for  Sicily  and  Italy.  It  is  at  Corinth  that  a  new  type 
of  vase-painting  appears  early  in  the  sixth  century.  It  is 
very  obvious  that  the  motive  was  still  derived  from  textile 
art,  probably  from  Assyrian  em- 
broidery. The  result,  with  its  /^TH.^  /j8 
rich  purples,  is  very  pleasing  from 
a  decorative  point  of  view,  though 
the  actual  scenes  and  ornaments 

j       1        r  Coin  of  Corinth.  Sixth  century 

are    unmeaning,    and    therefore  7 
un-Greek.*    The  coin  types  of  Corinth  in  the  sixth  century  are 
already  beautiful  designs.    It  was  Cypselus,  tyrant  of  Corinth, 
•  Plate  27,  and  Vase- Plate,  Fig.  1. 

I05 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
who  dedicated  at  Olympia  that  famous  chest  of  which  we 
have  spoken,  with  its  parallel  bands  of  mythological  scenes. 
Periander,  his  son,  was  originally  one  of  the  Seven  Sages, 
though  Plato  wanted  to  cast  him  out  for  a  tyrant.    The  name 
of  the  third,  Psammetichus,  proves  the  close  intercourse 
of  Corinth  with  Egypt.    It  was  Corinth  under  her  tyrants 
that  evolved  a  new  poetical  form,  the  dithyramb,  and  that  first 
erected  a  Doric  temple  in  Greece  proper.    This  grave  and 
splendid  style  of  architecture  was  very  probably  based  upon 
Egyptian  models,  but  with  characteristically  Greek  modifica- 
tions.   The  earliest  Greek  temples  seem  to  have  been  of  wood 
and  sun-baked  brick.     Such  originally  was  the  temple  of 
Hera  at  Olympia,  but  as  the  wooden  columns  fell  down  one 
by  one  they  were  replaced  with  stone.    In  many  features  of 
Doric  architecture  it  is  possible  to  trace  development  from 
wooden  technique.    The  whole  roofing  system  is  one  of  joists 
and  beams,  even  when  the  roof  is  of  stone.    The  triglyphs 
are  the  ends  of  the  beams,  translated  into  stone.    The  metopes 
were  originally  left  open,  then  filled  with  terra-cotta  reliefs, 
and  finally  with  slabs  of  stone  carved  in  high  relief.    In  the 
earliest  Doric  temples  the  columns  are  very  thick  and  heavy 
and  the  intercolumnar  spaces  very  narrow.    These  things 
indicate  that  the  architect  had  not  yet  fully  realised  the 
superior  strength  of  stone.     An  ignorant  or  hasty  glance 
might  suggest  that  there  was  no  progress  in  Greek  architecture, 
but  the  close  observer  sees  how  the  succeeding  generations  of 
architects  continued  to  make  subtle  improvements,  rendering 
the  shafts  more  graceful,  the  mouldings  more  refined  in  their 
curves,  correcting  most  cunningly  the  optical  illusions  of  a 
straight  row  of  tall  columns,  improving  the  lighting  arrange- 
ments, improving  the  masonry,  substituting  stone  for  wood 
and  precious  marble  for  stone,  adding  ornament  where  it  was 
appropriate,  as  on  the  frieze  inside  the  peristyle,  rejecting  it 
where  it  was  unsuitable,  as  on  the  architrave,  which,  being  a 
main  beam,  ought  to  look  heavy  and  strong,  reaching  forward, 
in  fact,  to  the  te/os,  the  ultimate  end  of  the  type  which  his 
1 06 


THE  AGES  OF  TRANSITION 
predecessors  had  set  him.    That  is  the  Greek  way.  The 
Parthenon  is  the  goal  at  which  this  old  temple  of  Corinth  had 
been  aiming. 

Seven  columns  of  the  Corinthian  temple*  have  stood 


Acroterioa 


Metopes  and 
Triglyphs 


Stylobate 


Acroterion 
Cyma 


Architrave 


Capital,  with 
volutes 


Shaft 


Torus 
Trochilui 
Stylobate 


DORIC  STYLE 


IONIC  STYLE 


through  the  Roman  destruction  of  Corinth  and  all  the  sub- 
sequent batterings  of  history.  Their  antiquity  is  shown  by 
their  clumsy  strength.  The  height  of  the  columns  is  only 
about  four  times  the  diameter  of  the  base.  Each  column  is  a 
monolith  of  rough  limestone  covered  with  stucco  and  painted, 
in  height  23^  feet,  in  diameter  tapering  rather  sharply  from 
the  base  (5  feet  8  inches)  to  the  top  (4  feet  3  inches).  The 
temple  was  peripteral — i.e.  it  had  a  colonnade  all  round  the 
nave,  six  columns  at  each  end,  fifteen  on  each  side.  Already 
there  is  an  attempt  to  correct  the  optical  illusion  which  makes 

•  Plate  28. 

107 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
horizontal  lines  seem  to  sink  in  the  middle  and  vertical  lines 
seem  to  bulge  outwards,  the  stylobate,  or  floor  from  which  the 
columns  rise,  being  slightly  curved,  so  that  the  centre  columns 
stand  about  2  centimetres  higher  than  those  on  the  wing.  The 
interior  building  consists  of  two  oblong  chambers  back  to  back, 
without  communication  between  them.  The  side  walls  are 
prolonged  at  each  end  so  as  to  form  wings,  and  between  each 
pair  of  wings  stood  two  columns  "in  antis."  Thus  there  is  a 
porch  at  each  end  under  the  colonnade.  From  the  existence 
of  the  two  separate  chambers  we  conclude  either  that  the 
temple  united  two  distinct  cults,  or  that  one  of  the  chambers 
was  a  treasury,  for  temples  in  Greece  were  always  used  as 
banks.  I  have  gone  into  some  detail  in  describing  this  building, 
because  it  is  probably  the  oldest  Doric  temple  in  Greece,  except 
the  old  wooden  Heraeum  at  Olympia.  Roof-tiles,  which  made 
a  sloping  roof  possible,  were  said  to  be  an  actual  Corinthian 
invention.  The  Corinthian  colony  of  Corcyra  (Corfu)  can 
boast  a  similar  temple  about  fifty  years  later  (?  600  B.C.). 

It  was  under  these  Cypselid  tyrants  that  Corinth  began  to 
acquire  her  historical  character  of  a  luxurious,  sensual,  and 
cosmopolitan  city.  Aphrodite,  as  she  was  worshipped  at 
Corinth,  was  none  other  than  "  Ashtaroth,  the  abomination  of 
the  Sidonians,"  and  was  imported  along  with  the  Tyrian 
purple  from  Phcenicia.  She  had  a  famous  temple  on  the 
citadel  of  Corinth,  which  was  thronged  by  her  sacred  slaves, 
the  courtesans.  Their  numbers  grew  to  more  than  a  thousand, 
and  they  were  a  notorious  snare  to  the  commercial  travellers  of 
antiquity.  You  had  to  be  a  rich  man  to  visit  Corinth,  as  the 
proverb  said  : 

ov  ttclvtos  avSpoi  ef  JZopivOov  ccr0'  o  7rXov?. 
"  non  cuivis  homini  contingit  adire  Corinthum.' 

That  this  immoral  state  of  affairs  began  under  the  tyrants  we 
can  be  sure,  though  Periander  is  said  to  have  collected  all 
the  procuresses  he  could  find  and  drowned  them  in  the  sea. 
Pindar  delicately  sings  of  "  the  hospitable  damsels,  ministers 
io8 


THE  AGES  OF  TRANSITION 
of  Persuasion  in  wealthy  Corinth."  And  we  are  told  that 
when  the  Persians  invaded  Greece  the  courtesans  flocked  to 
the  temple  of  Aphrodite  to  pray  for  the  deliverance  of  the 
land.  In  gratitude  for  their  patriotism  bronze  statues  of  them 
were  erected,  with  an  epigram  by  Simonides.  Lais,  the  most 
celebrated  of  all  these  erring  females,  belongs  to  the  time  of  the 
Peloponnesian  war,  though  there  would  appear  to  have  been 
others  who  adopted  her  famous  name.  The  other  Greeks 
were  apt  to  speak  of  Corinth  in  much  the  same  tone  as  a 
modern  Englishman  or  German  speaks  of  Paris.  The  wealth 
of  Cypselus  is  proved  by  his  dedication  of  a  colossal  gold  (or 
gilt)  statue  of  Zeus  at  Olympia.  Periander  cut  a  canal 
through  the  promontory  of  Leucas,  and  projected  another 
through  the  isthmus  of  Corinth. 

One  of  the  tyrants  of  Sicyon  won  the  chariot  race  at 
Olympia,  and  dedicated  two  large  model  shrines  of  Spanish 
bronze.  But  Cleisthenes  was  the  most  celebrated  for  his 
luxurious  court,  for  his  hostility  to  Argos,  which  made  him 
forbid  the  recital  of  Homer  at  Sicyon  because  it  honoured  the 
Argives,  and  for  the  wooing  of  his  daughter  Agariste. 
Cleisthenes  had  issued  a  general  invitation  to  any  one  who 
wishedito  marry  her  to  come  to  his  court,  offering  them  hospi- 
tality for  a  year.  All  the  rich  young  gentlemen  of  Greece 
assembled.  For  a  whole  year  Cleisthenes  tested  their  accom- 
plishments. By  that  time  two  Athenians  were  the  favourites, 
Megacles,  of  the  famous  Alcmaeonid  family,  and  Hippocleides, 
who  had  the  most  charming  social  graces  in  the  world.  At  last 
came  the  final  day  of  decision.  Hippocleides  braced  himself 
for  a  great  effort.  There  had  been  a  banquet,  and  perhaps 
Hippocleides  had  poured  too  many  libations  to  Dionysus. 
After  dinner  the  flute-players  struck  up,  and  Hippocleides 
began  to  dance.  Let  Herodotus  continue  the  story  :  "And 
he  danced,  probably,  for  the  pleasure  of  dancing ;  but  Cleis- 
thenes, looking  on,  began  to  have  suspicion  about  it  all.  Then 
Hippocleides,  after  a  short  rest,  ordered  a  slave  to  bring  in  a 
table  :  when  it  came,  he  began  to  dance  on  it,  first  Laconian 

109 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

figures  and  then  Attic  ones  ;  finally  he  stood  on  his  head  on 
the  table "  (this  was  perhaps  an  old  ritual  dance)  "  and 
gesticulated  with  his  legs.  But  Cleisthenes,  when  he  danced 
the  first  and  second  time,  revolted  from  the  idea  of  Hippo- 
cleides  as  a  son-in-law  on  account  of  his  indecorous  dancing,  * 
yet  he  restrained  himself,  not  wishing  to  make  a  scene.  .  But 
when  he  saw  him  gesticulating  with  his  legs  he  could  not 
restrain  himself  any  longer.  '  O  son  of  Tisander,'  he  cried, 
'you  have  danced  away  your  marriage.'  But  Hippocleides 
answered  :  1  Hippocleides  doesn't  care! '  Hence  this  answer 
became  a  proverb."  So  Megacles  married  the  lady,  and  lived 
happily  ever  afterwards,  becoming  the  ancestor  of  Pericles, 
while  Hippocleides  probably  took  to  drink  and  went  to  the  bad 
altogether.    But  of  this  Herodotus  does  not  inform  us. 

The  tyranny  at  Megara  was  a  brief  one,  but  we  know  that 
Theagenes  built  an  aqueduct  for  his  city  and  made  it  a  serious 
commercial  rival  to  Athens. 

At  Athens  Peisistratus  stood  forth  as  champion  of  the  poor 
shepherds  of  the  Hill  against  the  wealthier  parties  of  the  Coast 
and  the  Plain.  He  succeeded  where  Cylon  had  failed  in  gaining 
command  of  the  Acropolis  with  his  bodyguard.  Twice  the 
Athenians  managed  to  expel  him,  but  each  time  he  got  back,  the 
first  time  by  dressing  up  a  tall  and  handsome  woman  as  the 
goddess  Athena  and  driving  into  the  city  with  her,  and  the 
second  time  by  hiring  a  contingent  of  horsemen  from  Eretria, 
with  money  which  he  had  obtained  by  prudent  operations  in  the 
goldfields  of  Thrace.  From  first  to  last  he  and  his  sons 
were  in  power  from  560  to  510.  It  is  difficult  to  estimate 
his  services  to  Athens,  for  later  generations  did  their  utmost 
to  deny  and  conceal  them,  giving  some  of  his  achievements 
to  Solon  and  some  to  Theseus,  and  some  even  to  Erechtheus. 
He  founded  an  early  Athenian  empire.  He  won  the  island 
of  Salamis  from  Megara,  and  until  she  possessed  Salamis 
Athens  had  no  open  road  to  the  sea.  Later  Athenians 
ascribed  this  feat  to  Solon.  He  regained  Sigeum,  on  the 
Troad,  after  a  war  with  Mitylene.  He  established  the  elder 
1 10 


THE  AGES  OF  TRANSITION 
Miltiades  as  tyrant  of  the  Thracian  Chersonese.  In  these 
movements  his  policy  was  obviously  to  open  up  trade  with 
the  Black  Sea,  the  granary  of  Greece.  He  extended  olive- 
culture  in  Attica.  He  probably  began  to  work  the  silver- 
mines  at  Laurium,  which  were  thenceforth  the  principal  source 
of  Athenian  revenue.  He  made  the  unfree  tillers  of  the  soil 
into  peasant  proprietors  by  confiscating  the  estates  of  his 
noble  opponents.  He  was  allied  with  Sparta  and  Argos, 
Thebes  and  Thessaly  and  Naxos.  He  introduced  a  police 
armed  with  bows  into  the  city  of  Athens. 

He  probably  did  much  of  what  Theseus  is  supposed  to 
have  done  in  syncecising  Athens — that  is,  transforming  Attica 
from  a  number  of  villages  with  a  capital  into  a  city-state  with 
surrounding  territory.  We  know  that  he  sent  judges  on  circuit 
round  the  country  demes.  The  other  indications  are  that 
Peisistratus  pulled  down  the  city  wall  in  order  that  she  might 
be  able  to  expand,  that  he  constructed  a  proper  water-supply, 
and  that  he  fostered  the  worship  of  the  Olympian  or  city 
deities.  At  the  same  time  he  fostered  agriculture,  and  tried 
to  get  the  poor  of  Athens  back  to  the  land.  As  he  had  owed 
his  return  to  Athena,  he  signalised  his  gratitude  by  surround- 
ing the  old  temple  of  Athena  Polias  with  a  marble  peristyle 
and  sculptures.  Some  of  the  sculptures  of  this  period  are 
preserved  on  the  Acropolis  of  Athens.  They  were  generally 
carved  of  the  softer  porus  or  rough  limestone,  and  freely 
adorned  with  colour.  But  the  decorations  of  Peisistratus' 
temple  are  of  Parian  marble.  Heracles  and  his  labours  seem 
to  have  been  preferred  to  Theseus  as  a  subject  for  representa- 
tion. On  the  plain  below  the  Acropolis  Peisistratus  began  a 
temple  to  Olympian  Zeus  on  so  huge  a  scale  that  republican 
Athens  was  unable  to  complete  it  until  the  Emperor  Hadrian 
brought  his  immense  resources  into  play. 

But  Peisistratus  did  more  than  building  for  religion.  He 
may  fairly  be  called  the  founder  of  the  State  cults  of  Athens. 
He  founded  the  Greater  Panathenaea,  as  the  symbol  of  union 
for  Attica.    This  was  a  most  solemn  yearly  procession  of  all 

1 1 1 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
the  people,  to  carry  up  a  new  embroidered  robe  as  a  gift  to  the 
Virgin  Goddess  on  the  Acropolis.  That  is  the  scene  depicted 
on  the  frieze  of  the  Parthenon  which  is  now  the  chief  glory  of 
the  British  Museum.  Later  Athenians,  of  course,  ascribed 
the  Panathensea  to  Theseus  or  Erechtheus.  Along  with  the 
procession  there  were  athletic  games  and  sacrifices.  And  the 
prizes  in  the  games  were  those  fine  big  oil-jars,  the  Pana- 
thenaic  amphorae,  of  which  we  have  a  long  series  preserved.* 
This  gave  a  great  impulse  to  pottery.  It  is  about  now  that 
we  begin  the  black-figured  type  of  vase,  in  which  the  figures 
are  painted  with  a  lustrous  black  glaze  on  the  rich  brown  of 
the  earthenware. 

Peisistratus  greatly  encouraged  the  idea  of  Athens  as  the 
leading  member  of  the  Ionic  States  of  Greece.  Up  to  this 
time  great  Ionian  cities  like  Miletus  and  Ephesus  had  been 
far  ahead  of  Athens  in  wealth  and  civilisation.  It  is  hard  to 
say  how  Peisistratus  persuaded  them  that  Athens  was  in  some 
sort  their  mother  city  unless  such  was  the  fact.  He  in- 
augurated the  solemn  purification  of  Delos,  by  removing  the 
dead  from  the  island.  Henceforth  the  Apollo  of  Delos  was 
to  share  with  the  Poseidon  of  Mycale  the  patronage  of  Ionia. 
Both  at  the  Panionic  festivals  of  Delos  and  the  Panathenaic 
festivals  at  Athens  the  solemn  recitation  of  Homer  formed  an 
important  part  of  the  proceedings.  It  was  Peisistratus  who 
caused  an  authorised  version  of  Homer  to  be  prepared  at 
Athens.  Certain  portions  were  selected  and  edited.  Thus  at 
length  Homer  became  a  fixed  canon. 

Another  festival  instituted  by  Peisistratus  led  to  import- 
ant literary  results.  This  was  the  Great  Dionysia.  Dionysus 
was  a  late-comer  in  Olympian  mythology,  probably  from 
Thrace.  As  the  god  of  wine,  his  coming  had  to  face  some 
opposition  from  the  temperance  party,  but  like  a  god  he 
triumphed.  It  was  at  the  Dionysia  that,  as  we  shall  see,  the 
Athenian  drama  took  its  rise  as  a  service  of  worship  to  the  god. 

Literature  found  a  whole-hearted  patron  in  the  great 


112 


*  Plates  24  and  78,  and  Vase- Plate,  Fig.  3. 


I,    CORINTHIAN  VASE. 
J.    BLACK-FIGURED  VASE. 


2.    RED-FIGURED  VASE. 

4.    WHITE  POLYCHROME  VASE. 


VASE  PLATE. 


[/'.  112. 


THE  AGES  OF  TRANSITION 

tyrant's  younger  son  Hipparchus.  At  his  court  were,  among 
others,  Simonides,  Anacreon,  and  Onomacritus.  Simonides  of 
Ceos  is  specially  associated  with  the  dithyramb,  the  chorus  in 
honour  of  Dionysus,  which  played  a  great  part  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  chorus  of  tragedy.  He  was  also  a  composer  of 
odes  of  victory  for  successful  athletes,  though  here  his  fame 
was  eclipsed  by  his  younger  rival  Pindar.  But  it  is  chiefly  as 
a  writer  of  elegies  and  epitaphs  and  epigrams  that  his  fame 
survives.  Every  one  knows  that  epitaph  he  wrote  on  Leonidas 
and  his  Three  Hundred  Spartans  at  Thermopylae. 

"  Go  tell  at  Sparta,  thou  that  passest  by, 
That  here,  obedient  to  her  word,  we  lie." 

His  fine  ode  on  the  same  subject  is  still  extant.  Anacreon 
is  known  even  to  the  "general  reader,"  through  Byron  : 

"  Fill  high  the  bowl  with  Samian  wine ! 
We  will  not  think  of  themes  like  these! 
It  made  Anacreon's  song  divine, 

He  served — but  served  Polycrates — 
A  tyrant ;  but  our  masters  then 
Were  still,  at  least,  our  countrymen." 

Anacreon's  main  business  was,  as  our  poet  suggests,  the 
writing  of  banquet  songs  on  love  and  wine.  It  is  rather 
melancholy  to  reflect  that  his  anacreontics  were  composed — 
according  to  his  own  prescription — on  ten  parts  of  water  to 
five  of  wine  ;  but  all  the  ancients  watered  their  liquor.  How 
closely  tyranny  is  to  be  associated  with  the  revival  of  culture 
is  proved  by  the  careers  of  these  two  poets.  Anacreon  passed 
from  the  court  of  Polycrates,  tyrant  of  Samos,  to  Hipparchus, 
one  of  the  tyrants  of  Athens.  When  he  fell  Anacreon  went 
to  the  still  more  brilliant  court  of  Hiero,  tyrant  of  Syracuse. 
Simonides  went  with  him,  and  there  they  were  joined  by 
Bacchylides,  Pindar,  and  ./Eschylus. 

Onomacritus  was  a  strange  person.  It  seems  that  Hippar- 
chus had  a  hobby  of  collecting  oracles,  and  had  commissioned 
Onomacritus  to  edit  a  famous  collection  of  poetical  prophecies 

n  1 13 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
by  Musseus,  a  half-mythical  bard.  Onomacritus  was  detected 
inserting  some  of  his  own  compositions,  and  very  properly 
expelled  for  a  forger.  If  all  the  historical  forgers  of  this  period 
had  been  detected  the  modern  historian's  lot  would  be  a 
happier  one. 

One  monument  of  this  period  is  of  especial  interest,  the 
stele  or  gravestone  of  Aristion.*  It  is  a  bas-relief,  once 
adorned  with  colour,  of  a  warrior  in  armour  with  a  long  spear 
in  his  hand.  It  is  not  likely  that  any  attempt  was  made  at  a 
portrait  of  the  deceased.  As  the  stele  was  found  at  Peisis- 
tratus*  birthplace  it  has  been  suggested  that  this  may  be  that 
very  Aristion  who  proposed  the  decree  which  gave  the  tyrant 
his  bodyguard.  It  certainly  belongs  to  the  right  period  of 
art,  but  Aristion  was  a  common  name ;  and  is  it  likely  that  a 
record  of  such  a  man  would  have  been  permitted  to  survive? 

It  was  the  custom  after  dinner  at  Athens  to  pass  round  the 
harp,  and  for  each  guest  as  it  came  to  him  either  to  improvise  a 
verse  or  to  cap  his  neighbour's  impromptu  or  to  sing  a  stave 
of  some  famous  song.  The  most  popular  of  all  these  "  skolia  " 
was  "The  Myrtle  Bough."    One  version  of  it  runs  : 

"  I  will  wear  my  sword  in  a  myrtle  bough, 
Like  Harmodius  and  Aristogeiton 
When  they  killed  the  tyrant 
And  made  Athens  free. 

"  Dearest  Harmodius,  thou  art  not  yet  dead. 
They  say  thou  art  in  the  Isles  of  the  Blessed, 
Where  dwells  Achilles  swift  of  foot 
And  Diomede,  Tydeus'  son. 

"  I  will  wear  my  sword  in  a  myrtle  bough, 
Like  Harmodius  and  Aristogeiton 
When  at  the  sacrifice  of  Athena 
They  killed  Hipparchus  the  tyrant  lord. 

**  Everlasting  shall  be  your  glory  upon  earth, 
Dearest  Harmodius  and  Aristogeiton, 
For  that  ye  killed  the  tyrant 
And  set  Athens  free." 

*  Plate  39,  Fig.  1. 

TJ4 


FIG.  2.     RELIEF  FROM  THE  HARPY  TOMB,  NORTH  BIDE 

Plate  30.    (See  p.  123) 


[/.  114 


THE  AGES  OF  TRANSITION 
Rightdown  in  thedays  of  Demosthenes,  nearly  twohundred 
years  later,  these  two  men  were  still  mentioned  in  most  of  the 
public  decrees,  because  immunities  had  been  granted  to  their 
descendants  for  ever.  They  are  the  only  private  individuals 
for  more  than  a  hundred  years  who  had  statues  erected  to 
them.  All  this  extraordinary  honour  was  theirs  because  they 
had  killed  a  tyrant. 

Although  we  can  see  the  blessings  that  the  tyrants  of 
Greece  had  brought  to  their  cities,  it  is  to  the  credit  of  the 
Greeks  that  they  could  not.  They  much  preferred  to  govern 
themselves  badly  than  to  be  governed  ever  so  efficiently 
by  some  one  else.  A  tyrant  might  give  them  wealth,  peace, 
culture,  and  happiness,  but  no  Greek  ever  lost  sight  of  the 
tyrant's  ielos,  or  goal.  The  tyrant  governed,  as  Aristotle  says, 
"for  his  own  advantage,  not  that  of  his  subjects."  Hence 
their  execration  of  tyranny  and  the  extraordinary  honour  they 
paid  to  tyrannicides.  Such  a  sentiment  has  had  an  enormous 
influence  in  history.  The  Greeks  taught  it  in  their  schools, 
their  orators  embroidered  the  theme,  the  Roman  schoolboys 
learnt  declamations  against  tyrants  from  their  Greek  teachers 
of  rhetoric,  until  finally  this  old  legend  of  Harmodius  and 
Aristogeiton  whetted  the  daggers  of  Brutus  and  Cassius 
against  Caesar. 

It  was  a  legend,  I  am  afraid.  The  Athenian  tyranny  was 
put  down  by  a  Spartan  army  persuaded  by  a  bribed  oracle  at 
the  bidding  of  the  Alcmoeonids.  All  that  Harmodius  and 
Aristogeiton  had  done  was  to  kill  Hipparchus,  the  younger 
brother  of  Hippias,  by  surprise,  as  he  was  marshalling  the 
Panathenaic  procession.  Apparently,  too,  the  motive  was 
merely  a  love  affair  of  a  kind  that  we  consider  disreputable ;  . 
but  that  only  added  the  necessary  touch  of  romance  to  the 
story.  No  ancient  historian  supports  the  belief  of  the  common 
folk  at  Athens  that  Harmodius  and  Aristogeiton  had  set 
Athens  free. 

This  story  provided  the  subject  of  one  of  the  most  famous  of 
archaic  statues,  the  "  Harmodius  and  Aristogeiton  "  of  Antenor. 

"5 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

It  was  carried  off  by  Xerxes  to  Persia  when  he  sacked 
Athens  in  480,  but  returned  eventually  by  Antiochus  the 
Great.  Meanwhile  two  other  sculptors  had  been  set  to  re- 
produce Antenor's  group.  1 1  is  probably  this  reproduction  from 
which  our  many  copies  have  been  made.  We  have  them  on 
coins,  on  vases,  on  a  marble  throne,  and  above  all  in  two 
separate  statues  in  the  Naples  Museum,  where  unfortunately 
Aristogeiton,  who  should  have  been  the  bearded  elder,  has  been 
degraded  by  the  addition  of  one  of  the  pretty  curly-haired 
heads  of  the  fourth  or  third  century.  But  the  Harmodius  is  a 
fine  type  of  archaic  work,  even  though  it  has  been  freely 
restored  and  is  of  course  only  a  copy.  We  note  how  much 
more  successful  is  the  body  than  the  head.  But  uncouth  as  the 
head  is  it  is  full  of  dignity  and  virility.* 

From  Aristophanes  it  would  appear  that  it  was  the  mark 
of  a  jingo  democrat  at  Athens  to  sing  "the  Harmodius"  on 
every  possible  occasion. 

Hippias,  as  I  have  said,  was  expelled  by  the  machinations 
of  the  Alcmaeonids  and  the  strong  arm  of  Sparta  in  510  B.C. 
It  was  the  Alcmaeonid  Cleisthenes  who  was  called  upon  to 
draw  up  a  new  constitution.  After  emerging  from  the 
tyrannical  stage  all  the  Greek  states  developed  a  republic, 
either  oligarchical  or  democratic.  In  the  oligarchic  type  the 
citizenship  was  confined  to  a  few  hundreds  of  the  richer 
citizens  and  the  actual  government  was  carried  on  by  a  small 
council  of  ten  or  fifteen  members.  This  was  the  normal  type 
of  Greek  government.  The  democracy  of  Athens  was 
unique.  All  Greek  states  had  inherited  from  the  earliest 
times  the  public  meeting  in  the  market-place  as  one  of  the 
rights  of  citizenship.  At  Athens  eventually  all  administrative 
decrees  were  made  at  this  Assembly,  or  Ecclesia,  without  any 
revision  whatsoever,  and  all  adult  male  citizens  could  attend 
and  speak  if  they  chose.  It  amounted  to  government  by 
mass  meeting.  It  was,  of  course,  an  ignorant,  fickle,  excitable 
body,  especially  in  conducting  a  war  or  a  piece  of  foreign 

•  Plate  89,  Fig.  2. 

116 


Plate  31.    RELIEFS  FROM  THE  "LUDOVISI  THRONE"  [/.  116 

(See  pp.  124  and  160) 


THE  AGES  OF  TRANSITION 
policy.  But  it  was  a  wonderful  instrument  of  education,  and 
it  gave  the  Athenian  citizen  that  sense  of  direct  participation 
in  the  affairs  of  his  state  which  alone  could  satisfy  the  political 
aspirations  of  a  Greek.  Who  shall  call  it  a  failure  because  it 
bungled  a  war  and  an  empire,  if  it  made  Athens  the  eye 
of  the  world  for  ever  and  ever  ?  Cleisthenes  set  up  a  Council 
of  five  hundred  members,  fifty  elected  from  each  of  his  new 
ten  tribes,  but  that  was  only  a  committee  to  prepare  business 
for  the  Assembly.  Also  there  still  remained  the  old  patrician 
council  of  notables,  now  chiefly  consisting  of  ex-magistrates, 
who  met  upon  the  Areian  Hill  and  were  called  the  Council  of 
the  Areopagus.  These  had  the  guardianship  of  the  laws, 
amounting  probably  to  a  veto  upon  the  Assembly's  pro- 
ceedings, and  a  general  censorship  over  morals.  They 
were  also  the  highest  criminal  court  for  cases  of  blood-guilt 
— a  solemn  and  awful  tribunal.  Consisting  of  ex-officials, 
they  naturally  had  great  influence  over  the  merely  annual 
magistrates,  or  archons ;  and,  in  fact,  as  we  have  recently 
learnt  from  Aristotle,  they  managed  most  things  in  Athens 
until  after  the  Persian  wars.  The  chief  executive  magis- 
trates were  still  the  nine  annual  archons,  still  chosen  by 
popular  election.  With  his  new  ten  tribes  Cleisthenes  in- 
stituted ten  strategoi,  or  generals,  to  lead  them  under  command 
of  the  War  Archon.  The  ten  tribes  were  so  grouped  as  to 
prevent  any  recurrence  of  the  local  factions  which  had 
enabled  Peisistratus  to  rise.  And  Cleisthenes  devised  the 
ingenious  system  called  ostracism,  by  which  any  unpopular 
statesman  who  had  a  certain  number  of  votes  cast  against 
him  was  sent  into  polite  and  honourable  banishment.  It  was 
generally  the  leader  of  the  Opposition  who  suffered  this  fate, 
and  such  was  the  intention.  Though  Greek  democracy 
inevitably  developed  a  party  system,  it  was  never  recognised. 
Opposition  was  considered  treachery  to  the  state,  as,  indeed, 
it  generally  was. 

Such  in  general  was  the  constitution  under  which  Athens 
rose  to  glory.     It  was  modified,  as  we  shall  see,  in  a 

117 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

democratic  direction  by  Pericles.  As  yet  it  can  hardly,  with 
its  powerful  Areopagus  and  elective  magistrates,  be  called  a 
democracy.  But  it  tends  that  way,  and  the  course  before  it  is 
plain.  Cleisthenes  has  lost  much  of  the  credit  due  to  him  in 
the  process  which  has  assigned  superhuman  wisdom  to 
Solon.  He,  with  Pericles,  is  the  father  of  the  Athenian 
democracy. 

Ionia 

At  this  time,  when  the  mainland  cities  of  Greece  were 
beginning  to  revive  the  old  JEgean  culture  under  changed 
conditions,  their  kinsmen  across  the  sea  on  both  sides  had 
gone  in  advance  of  them  in  civilisation.  Why  this  was  so  it 
is  hard  to  say — impossible,  on  the  old  theory  that  all  these 
great  cities  from  Miletus  to  Sybaris  were  merely  colonies  of 
Athens  or  Corinth  or  poor  little  Megara.  But  if  it  be  true 
that  one  and  the  same  gifted  race  had  dwelt  from  Neolithic 
times  on  the  coasts  of  the  Eastern  Mediterranean,  then  it  is 
quite  natural  that  the  cities  furthest  removed  from  the  main 
focus  of  Northern  invasion  should  be  the  first  to  recover  from 
the  turmoil  of  the  Dark  Ages  caused  by  the  coming  of  Achaeans 
and  Dorians.  The  Ionians  at  any  rate  bear  all  the 
characteristics  that  we  should  expect  from  the  kinsfolk  of 
those  pre-Achaean  peoples  without  the  Northern  stiffening. 
They  are  intelligent,  artistic,  commercial,  without  any  military 
virtues  to  speak  of.  They  tend  towards  naturalistic  deities 
like  the  Diana  of  Ephesus,  and  they  scoff  at  the  Olympian 
system.  Their  patron  god  is  the  sea-god.  No  deep  gulf, 
such  as  that  of  race,  separates  them  from  the  Lydian  and 
Carian  peoples  behind  them.  Moreover,  we  can  find  the 
period  and  the  political  motive  when  the  legends  of  their 
foundation  from  Athens  first  came  into  vogue.  In  the  East 
"  Javan"  was  the  collective  name  for  the  Greeks. 

In  the  eighth,  seventh,  and  sixth  centuries  cities  like 
Miletus,  Ephesus,  and  Mitylene  on  Lesbos  were  the  greatest 
cities  of  the  Greek  world,  in  size,  riches,  and  culture.  They 
in  their  turn  were  sending  colonies  into  the  Black  Sea,  to  tap 
118 


THE  AGES  OF  TRANSITION 
its  rich  corn-growing  and  wool-producing  regions.  We  have 
seen  something  of  the  wisdom  of  Thales,  and  we  must  allow 
our  imaginations  to  suggest  what  a  vast  amount  of  pre- 
liminary knowledge  and  culture  is  required  before  a  man  can 
calculate  an  eclipse.  It  is  likely  that  this  learning  came  in 
the  merchant  ships  from  Egypt.  We  have  seen  also  what 
a  great  part  Ionia  played  in  the  development  (if  not  the 
authorship)  of  the  Homeric  epics.  It  is  here  too  that  lyric 
poetry  reaches  its  apotheosis.  We  have  agreed,  I  hope, 
that  the  epic  did  not  come  into  being  out  of  the  void,  but 
that  there  must  have  been  songs  before  there  were  long 
poems.  Hence  we  are  not  driven  to  the  extravagant 
assumption  that  Sappho  and  Alcaeus  were  beginners  at  their 
trade. 

The  great  lyric  period  of  the  seventh  and  sixth  centuries 
belongs  politically  to  an  era  of  aristocracies  and  tyrannies. 
The  aristocracies  here  were  composed,  not  of  farmers,  as  at 
Athens,  nor  of  warrior-knights,  as  at  Sparta,  but  of  merchant 
princes  who  have  always  proved  lavish  patrons  of  a  certain  kind 
of  art  and  literature.  Most  of  the  great  poets  seem  to  have 
been  members  of  the  aristocracy. 

Sappho  is  a  remarkable  figure  in  the  history  of  literature, 
the  only  woman  who  has  ever  reached  the  front  rank  among 
poets.  We  have  of  her  only  a  few  score  lines  of  broken 
fragments,  onlyitwo  poems  that  exceed  ten  lines,  and  not  one 
of  thirty.  Yet  even  from  these  ruined  remnants  we  can  feel 
across  the  ages  the  vital  throb  of  her  passion,  speaking  in 
music  of  altogether  unequalled  beauty.  It  is  impossible  to 
describe  the  emotion  which  scholars  and  poets  of  all  ages 
have  felt  when  they  first  stumbled  upon 

"  Immortal  Aphrodite  of  the  starry  throne, 
Daughter  of  God,  weaver  of  guile,  I  beseech  thee 
Neither  to  disgust  nor  to  distress  subdue, 
Lady,  my  heart.  ..." 

Or  the  broken  marriage  chorus : 

119 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 


Maidens 

"  Like  the  sweet  apple  blushing  on  the  topmost  twig, 
Top  of  the  topmost,  which  the  gatherers  forgot. 
Forgot  ?    Nay,  but  they  could  not  reach  to  it. 

Youths 

"  Like  the  hyacinth  on  the  hills  which  the  shepherd  swains 
Tread  underfoot,  and  down  to  the  earth  the  bright 
flower  .  .  ." 

But  translation  inevitably  spoils  the  fragrance,  as  even  Rossetti 
and  Swinburne  have  found.  It  is  of  Sappho  that  Swinburne 
writes  in  her  own  metre  : 

"Ah  the  singing,  ah  the  delight,  the  passion  ! 
All  the  Loves  wept,  listening  ;  sick  with  anguish 
Stood  the  crowned  nine  Muses  about  Apollo ; 

Fear  was  upon  them, 
While  the  tenth  sang  wonderful  things  they  knew  not. 
Ah  the  tenth,  the  Lesbian !  the  nine  were  silent, 
None  endured  the  sound  of  her  song  for  weeping ; 

Laurel  by  laurel 
Faded  all  their  crowns ;  but  about  her  forehead, 
Round  her  woven  tresses  and  ashen  temples, 
White  as  dead  snow,  paler  than  grass  in  summer 

Ravaged  with  kisses, 
Shone  a  light  of  fire  as  a  crown  for  ever. 
Yea,  almost  the  implacable  Aphrodite 

Paused,  and  almost  wept ;  such  a  song  was  that  song.  .  .  ." 

The  fertile  and  prurient  invention  of  late  Greek  scholarship 
have  given  this  sublime  poetess  a  biography  which  is  as  false 
as  it  is  unpleasant.  From  her  own  works,  however,  we  can 
gather  some  interesting  details.  She  belonged  to  the  governing 
aristocracy  of  Lesbos,  and,  for  a  time  at  least,  went  into  exile 
with  it.  The  women  of  Lesbos  seem  to  have  formed  rival 
salons  of  literary  culture,  and  Sappho  herself  was  the  head 
of  one.  There  was  a  good  deal  of  jealousy  between  them. 
Strangely,  the  most  ardent  of  her  verse  is  addressed  to  one 
1 20 


THE  AGES  OF  TRANSITION 

of  her  own  sex,  and  since  it  cannot  be  true  that  she  is  only 
writing  the  amatory  language  of  male  poets,  we  must  con- 
clude that  the  women  of  Ionia  imitated  the  men  in  that  strange 
passion  which  ignored  sex.  To  contradict  the  celebrated  fable 
of  her  dramatic  suicide  from  a  cliff  in  consequence  of  an 
unrequited  love,  we  have  a  fragment  of  her  message  to  her 
daughter  from  a  calm  deathbed : 

"...  For  it  is  not  right  that  in  a  house  the  Muses  haunt 
Mourning  should  dwell :  such  things  befit  us  not." 

We  cannot  lightly  dismiss  as  mere  gossip  the  story  of  tender 
feeling,  or  at  any  rate  tender  expressions,  between  Sappho 
and  Alcaeus.  They  were  contemporary  love-poets  of  the  same 
city.  Sappho  sometimes  used  the  alcaic  measure,  and  Alcaeus 
the  sapphic.  Besides,  we  have  it  on  the  authority  of  Aristotle. 
One  line  of  Alcaeus  to  Sappho  is  preserved: 

"  Sappho,  pure  sweet-smiling  weaver  of  violets." 

Alcaeus  too  was  a  member  of  the  Lesbian  aristocracy.  He 
alludes  to  a  short-lived  tyranny  which  was  ended  by  the 
appointment  of  a  constitutional  tyrant  or  dictator,  the  wise 
and  generous  Pittacus.  In  the  course  of  these  disturbances 
Alcaeus  went  into  exile — among  other  places,  we  should  note, 
to  Egypt — while  his  brother  took  service  under  the  King 
of  Babylon.  Such  were  the  cosmopolitan  relations  of  this 
period.  The  poet  also  fought  for  his  country  against  the 
Athenians  in  the  struggle  for  Sigeum,  and  humorously  records 
the  fact  that  he  lost  his  shield  in  the  rout.  Such  a  loss  was 
the  regular  mark  of  defeat,  and  generally  regarded  as  a  brand  of 
ignominy  to  a  soldier.  But  the  Ionians  took  nothing  seriously, 
not  even  war.  It  is  strangely  illustrative  of  the  prevalence 
of  types  in  Greek  art  that  many  lyric  poets  lost  their  shields 
in  battle — Alcaeus,  Archilochus,  and  Anacreon — while  the 
Roman  Horace  was  too  careful  an  imitator  of  the  Greek  lyric 
tradition  to  neglect  their  example  in  this  respect.  The  poetry 
of  Alcaeus  falls  into  two  classes — banquet-songs  in  praise  of 

121 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
love  and  wine,  and  political  songs  attacking  his  enemies.  He 
too  chiefly  survives  in  fragments  like 

"  Wine  is  the  mirror  to  mortals  .  .  ." 
"  Wine,  dear  child,  and  Truth.  .  .  ." 

Though  there  is  not  the  fire  of  Sappho  in  his  work,  it  is 
singularly  artistic,  polished,  and  rich  in  the  language  of  pure 
poetry.  For  the  rest  we  must  be  content  to  admit  his  great 
reputation  in  antiquity  and  to  enjoy  him  through  the  medium 
of  Horace's  Latin. 

These  two  great  poets,  who  both  flourished  about  600  B.C., 
their  predecessors  Archilochus,  Arion,  Callinus.and  Terpander, 
and  their  successors  of  the  next  generation  Anacreon  and 
Simonides,  are  the  best  representatives  of  the  early  culture 
of  Ionia.  To  complete  the  picture  we  must  remember  her 
philosophers.  Besides  Thales  and  Bias,  the  two  Sages  (Bias, 
by  the  way,  is  credited  with  having  proposed  that  the  Ionians 
should  leave  their  homes  en  masse  and  found  a  united  state 
in  the  west),  there  were  students  of  natural  philosophy  like 
Anaximander,  who  made  the  first  map  and  the  first  sun- 
dial and  explained  the  evolution  of  life  from  chaos  by  the 
interaction  of  heat  and  cold,  Heracleitus  of  Ephesus,  "the 
weeping  philosopher,"  or  Hecatseus  of  Miletus,  the  grand- 
father of  history  and  geography.  Hecataeus  first  explained 
away  the  gods  as  only  deified  mortals  of  past  ages,  a  doctrine 
afterwards  called  Euhemerism.  This  was  the  Ionian  attitude 
of  scepticism  which  doubtless  is  to  be  discerned  in  Homer's 
attitude  to  the  gods.  Even  Sappho,  the  worshipper  of  Aphro- 
dite, says  in  one  fragmentary  line  : 

"  I  know  not  what  the  gods  are:  two  notions  have  I.  .  . 

Language  is  the  easiest  medium  for  art.  We  must  not  be 
surprised  to  find  this  high  poetic  and  philosophic  standard 
accompanied  chronologically  by  plastic  work,  still  to  be  called 
archaic,  which  shows  the  artist  painfully  struggling  with  his 
122 


THE  AGES  OF  TRANSITION 
material.  Though  Miletus  was  already  growing  rich  with 
commerce  the  Ionian  coin  types  are  still  very  primitive.  It  is 
generally  believed  that  coinage  was  invented  by  the  Lydians 
in  the  seventh  century,  but  for  a  long  time  the  marks  upon 
their  coins  were  only  mechanical  impressions.  One  of  the 
earliest  attempts  at  an  artistic  motive  is  the 
coin  found  at  Halicarnassus  bearing  a  stag  and 
an  inscription  which  seems  to  mean  "  I  am  the 
mark  of  Phanes."  We  know  of  a  Phanes  at 
Halicarnassus  late  in  the  sixth  century,  but  this 
must  be  the  token  of  an  ancestor  of  his.  Most  of  these  coins 
are  of  electrum,  a  natural  mixture  of  gold  and  silver. 

Of  the  sculpture  of  this  region  we  must  be  content  with  two 
examples.  One  is  the  so-called  Harpy  Tomb  from  Xanthus, 
in  Lycia.*  It  shows  us  the  M  harpies  "  conceived  as  angels 
of  death — by  no  means  malignant,  as  the  harpies  afterwards 
became — carrying  away  the  dead.  Perhaps  it  would  be  better 
to  call  them  Keres,  or  Fates.  In  the  centre  of  this  north  side 
is  the  dead  warrior  yielding  up  his  helmet  to  Hades.  On  the 
west  side  the  Queen  of  the  Dead  (Persephone)  sits  in  majesty. 
Over  the  door  is  the  common  heraldic  motive  of  the  suckling 
goat,  and  to  the  right  of  her  three  worshippers  bring  offerings  of 
poppies  and  sesame  to  another  seated  goddess.  Archaeologists 
date  this  monument  in  the  latter  half  of  the  sixth  century. 

The  other  is  the  sculptured  column  from  the  temple  at 
Ephesus.f  Great  interest  attaches  to  this  work  from  the  in- 
scription, which  tells  us  that  it  was  set  up  by  King  Croesus  of 
Lydia.  This  famous  monarch  was  in  power  from  560  to  546  B.C. 
Himself  half  a  Greek,  with  strong  Hellenic  sympathies  and  in 
close  relation  to  the  Delphic  oracle,  his  growing  power  was 
overcoming  and  absorbing  the  independent  cities  of  Ionia,  who 
made  no  very  violent  resistance.  But  he  himself  had  to  face 
a  still  greater  power  then  swallowing  up  the  ancient  kingdoms 
of  the  East — Cyrus  of  the  Medes  and  Persians.  Croesus  lost 
a  great  battle,  and  died,  as  ostentatiously  as  he  had  lived,  on 
•  Plate  30,  Fig.  3.  t  Plate  30,  Fig.  1. 

I23 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

a  splendid  funeral  pyre.  The  Greeks  loved  to  invent 
stories  about  this  plutocratic  potentate,  all  illustrating  one  of 
their  favourite  maxims  against  pride,  "  Call  no  man  happy 
until  he  is  dead."  In  defiance  of  chronology  edifying  inter- 
views were  composed  between  him  and  Solon.  It  is  clear 
that  the  Greeks  were  tremendously  impressed  by  his  magnifi- 
cent life  and  dramatic  end.  The  fall  of  the  Lydian  power 
brought  the  Greeks  face  to  face  with  Persia,  and  upon  the 
issue  of  that  momentous  conflict  hung  the  destinies  of 
European  civilisation. 

On  purely  aesthetic  grounds  I  prefer  to  illustrate  this  sec- 
tion with  a  picture  which,  one  fears,  chronologically  belongs 
to  a  period  at  least  two  generations  later.  But  the  spirit  of 
Sappho  seems  to  be  revealed  in  it  as  in  no  other  work  of  art. 
These  "  Reliefs  from  the  Ludovisi  Throne  "  *  were  discovered 
in  Rome  with  no  inscription  to  tell  us  whence  or  when  they 
had  been  brought  there.  Decoratively  considered,  they  are 
superb  examples  of  low  relief.  Observe  how  the  motives 
are  accommodated  to  the  triangular  slabs.  On  one  is  a  flute- 
girl  playing  the  double  pipe.  Feminine  nudity  is  rare  indeed 
in  fifth-century  work  ;  probably  no  one  but  an  auletris 
would  have  been  so  represented  at  that  date  ;  but  the  topic 
is  treated  with  all  possible  refinement  and  reserve.  On  the 
other  is  a  hooded  worshipper  trimming  or  extinguishing  a 
lamp.  And  who  is  the  diademed  goddess  on  the  central  slab  ? 
It  is  not  the  sea  from  which  she  is  rising.  It  can  be  none  other 
than  the  maid,  Persephone,  who  spent  half  the  year  with  her 
dark  lord,  Hades,  under  the  earth,  and  half  with  her  mother, 
Demeter,  above,  and  when  she  came  brought  the  spring  and 
the  flowers  back  with  her.  The  rendering  of  the  silken 
garments  half  revealing  the  fine  anatomy  beneath  is  so  skilful 
and  advanced  that  we  are  surprised  to  notice  that  the  eyes 
are  still  archaically  rendered. 

While  these  lines  were  in  the  press  t  there  came  news  that 
America  had  added  yet  another  to  her  list  of  trophies  captured 

*  Plate  31.  f  In  1911. 

124 


PLATE  32.    RELIEFS  FROM  THE  "  LUDOVISI  Til  RONE' 

NOW  IN  THE  MUSEUM  OF  FINE  ARTS,  BOSTON,  U.S.A. 

(See  pp.  125  ami  160) 


THE  AGES  OF  TRANSITION 
from  Europe.  The  Boston  Museum  of  Fine  Arts  recently 
acquired  three  more  slabs  which  obviously  belong  to  the 
same  monument,  and  of  which,  by  the  courtesy  of  the  Director, 
we  are  enabled  to  publish  one  of  the  earliest  photographic 
representations.*  It  is  said  that  these  additional  slabs  had 
lain  for  years  unrecognised  in  the  hands  of  a  collector  at 
Lewes,  in  Sussex.  Whether  they  formed  the  other  half  of  the 
same  throne,  tomb,  or  altar,  or  whether  they  formed  the  second 
of  a  pair,  the  new  slabs  correspond  precisely  in  shape,  subject, 
and  treatment  to  the  old.  The  hooded  figure  of  the  old 
"throne"  is  balanced  by  the  wonderfully  realistic  old  woman 
of  the  new.  The  nude  flute-player  has  her  counterpart  in 
the  nude  male  citharist.  And  the  long  central  slab  is 
matched  by  the  new  relief  of  the  winged  male  god  and  the 
two  seated  females. 

As  for  the  style,  it  is  obviously  identical ;  there  is  the  same 
remarkable  mixture  of  archaic  imperfection  in  the  delineation 
of  heads  and  faces,  with  finished  and  confident  mastery  in  the 
technique  of  relief.  The  architectural  ornament,  the  carving 
of  the  nude  bodies,  the  treatment  of  the  wings  and  of  the 
drapery,  is  as  advanced  as  that  of  the  Parthenon  sculptures. 
Yet  the  archaic  smile  of  the  faces,  the  carving  of  the  eyes, 
the  imperfect  setting  of  a  head  in  profile  upon  a  body  full-face 
recalls  the  early  .^Lginetan  sculptures  and  the  metopes  of 
Selinus.  We  must,  I  suppose,  date  this  work  in  the  period 
between  Marathon  and  Salamis,  or  a  very  little  later.  Even 
so,  there  is  nothing  even  on  vase-paintings  to  match  the  nude 
bodies  or  the  winged  god  for  half  a  century  to  come. 

The  subjects  are  equally  puzzling.  In  the  long  slab 
the  male  god  must  be  Love,  or  (as  I  rather  think)  Death. 
The  holes  in  the  marble  indicate  where  the  bronze 
balances  he  was  holding  were  attached.  The  two  female 
figures  obviously  indicate  Joy  and  Sorrow.  The  god  is 
smiling  and  the  balance  is  inclined  towards  Joy.  Close  by 
the  knees  of  the  two  women  are  mysterious  objects  of  marble 

*  Plate  33. 

125 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
which  seemed  to  hang  from  the  scales  and  actually  supported 
them.  On  each  is  a  nude  male  figure  with  hands  raised  above 
the  head  as  if  in  act  to  strike  with  the  sword.  The  architec- 
tural scrolls  which  support  this  and  the  corresponding  single 
figures  of  the  new  slabs  seem  to  me  to  indicate  a  ship, 
especially  as  there  is  a  dolphin,  the  regular  symbol  of  sea, 
under  one  of  them.  In  other  corners  there  are  pomegranates, 
a  fruit  associated  with  the  underworld. 

Mythological  interpretation  will  no  doubt  attempt  to  bring 
these  scenes  into  relation  with  the  famous  Homeric  simile  of 
the  scales  in  connection  with  the  fate  of  Hector.  Professor 
Studniczka  interprets  the  weighing  scene  as  the  dispute 
between  Aphrodite  and  Persephone  for  the  possession  of 
Adonis.  But  that  is  highly  unsatisfying.  To  my  eyes  the 
whole  series  bears  reference  to  Death.  The  Winged  God  of 
Death  reappears  on  Athenian  funeral  lecythi  of  a  later  date. 
The  figure  of  Sorrow  may  be  matched  by  a  marble  statue 
found  at  Eleusis.  The  musicians  have  the  sad  or  pensive 
faces  of  dirge-players.  The  rising  Persephone  is  the  heroine 
of  the  Eleusinian  myth  of  immortality.  The  old  woman  may 
be  Fate,  and  her  younger  counterpart  is  surely  trimming  the 
lamp  for  the  journey.  In  brief,  I  would  hazard  the  opinion 
that  the  whole  monument  is  Eleusinian  and  funereal  in 
character,  symbolical  rather  than  mythological.  Such  a 
character  is  strange  indeed  for  the  period  to  which  the  art 
seems  to  belong,  but  the  art  itself  is  without  any  close  parallel. 
More  it  would  be  unbecoming  to  say  at  present ;  the  monu- 
ment is  sub  judice,  and  weighty  authorities  have  questioned 
its  genuineness,  but  the  balance  of  probability  is  in  its  favour. 

The  West 

Wheresoever  the  patron  is  there  will  the  poets  be  gathered 
together.  When  tyrants  like  Polycrates  and  Peisistratus 
ceased  to  exist  in  the  East,  and  when  the  Ionian  cities  had 
fallen  under  the  Lydian  and  Persian  despotisms,  the  courtly 
poets  migrated  with  their  lyres  and  other  luggage  to  Sicily 
and  South  Italy,  where  there  were  aristocracies  as  elegant 
126 


THE  AGES  OF  TRANSITION 
and  tyrants  as  bountiful.  The  centres  of  commerce  in  this 
period  before  Athens  rose  into  prominence  were  Miletus, 
Corinth,  y£gina,  and  Sybaris,  but  above  all  the  first  and  the 
last.  The  West  was  then,  as  it  is  now,  one  of  the  greatest 
granaries  of  the  world.  Sicily  in  particular,  with  its  fertile 
volcanic  soil  and  its  equable  climate,  was  regarded  as  the 
original  home  of  wheat.  Milesian  wool  and  Eastern  wares 
found  a  ready  market  among  the  Etruscans,  whose  tastes 
were  Greek,  as  their  race  originally  was.  Most  of  this  traffic 
passed  through  the  hands  of  Sybaris.  As  a  result  Sybaris, 
on  her  soft,  warm  gulf,  became  proverbial  for  wealth  and  effe- 
minacy. In  the  early  sixth  century  Sybaris  seems  to  have 
been  larger  and  richer  than  any  other  State  at  any  period  of 
Greek  history.  Her  walls  had  a  circumference  of  over  six 
miles,  her  population  was  100,000,  she  kept  a  standing  force 
of  5000  horsemen,  and  in  her  last  great  battle  is  said  to  have 
put  300,000  men  into  the  field.  But  in  the  midst  of  her 
opulence  and  luxury  she  fell — and  was  destroyed  for  ever, 
so  that  not  a  vestige  was  left  to  mark  her  site.  It  was  her 
neighbour  and  rival  Croton  that  destroyed  her.  Croton  was 
not  nearly  so  wealthy,  but  she  was  better  organised  for  war. 
She  prided  herself  on  the  number  of  prizes  her  athletes  won 
at  Delphi  and  Olympia,  and  she  was  led  by  the  famous  strong 
man  Milo,  he  who 

"  Could  rend  an  oak 
And  peg  thee  in  his  knotty  entrails." 

It  is  said  that  in  the  great  battle  on  the  river  Traeis  in  511 
the  cavalry  of  Sybaris  were  so  much  better  accustomed  to 
musical  drill  than  to  fighting  that  at  the  sound  of  the  enemy's 
fifes  the  Sybarite  horses  began  to  dance  !  The  asceticism 
which  led  to  Croton's  efficiency  was  a  result  of  the  teaching 
of  Pythagoras  of  Samos,  the  great  philosopher.  A  strange 
person  was  Pythagoras ;  his  philosophy  largely  consisted  of 
sound  mathematics  run  mad  on  metaphysics.  He  attached 
mystical  meanings  to  odd  and  even  numbers  ;  harmony  was 
the  principle  of  the  universe.    The  abiding  doctrine  of  his 

127 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

philosophy  was  that  of  metempsychosis,  or  the  transmigration 
of  souls  : 

"  Clown.  What  is  the  opinion  of  Pythagoras  concerning 
wild  fowl  ? 

"  Malvolio.  That  the  soul  of  our  grandam  might  haply 
inhabit  a  bird." 

These  doctrines  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul  came,  no 
doubt,  from  the  East,  for  Pythagoras  is  reported  to  have 
sojourned  in  Egypt  and  visited  Babylon.  He  founded  a 
great  secret  society,  which  lived  on  monastic  (and  of  course 
vegetarian)  principles.  He  had  considerable  influence  on  the 
mind  of  Plato.  His  followers,  banded  together  by  mystical  rites 
of  initiation,  took  to  playing  an  important  part  in  the  politics 
of  their  country,  and  fell  into  disrepute  in  consequence. 

When  Sybaris  was  destroyed  some  of  the  survivors  took 
refuge  at  Posidonium,  her  colony.  Here,  at  the  modern 
Paesto,  is  one  of  the  most  splendid  relics  of  Doric  architecture.* 

Xenophanes  of  Colophon  was  another  Ionian  philosopher 
of  the  sixth  century  who  came  to  instruct  the  West.  He  was 
the  founder  of  the  important  Eleatic  school  of  philosophy, 
teaching  that  God  was  one,  and  was  one  with  Nature.  Like 
others  of  his  kind,  he  devoted  a  great  deal  of  attention  to 
Nature-study,  especially  geology.  These  regions  also  boasted 
two  of  the  most  celebrated  law-givers  of  antiquity,  Zaleucus 
of  Western  Locri,  said  to  have  been  the  first  to  put  laws  into 
writing,  and  Charondas  of  Catane.  We  have  seen  reason  to 
believe  that  the  Law-givers  of  Greece  represent  rather  a  con- 
ception of  Greek  history  than  a  fact.  Doubtless  these  two 
sages  are  as  historical  as  Solon,  but  there  is  even  less  doubt 
that  they  have  both  been  made  the  peg  for  elaborate  forgeries 
of  some  late  Pythagorean  philosopher,  who  succeeded  in 
foisting  off  a  whole  series  of  excellent  moral  doctrines  upon 
their  shoulders,  to  the  great  confusion  of  later  writers,  such  as 
Cicero  and  Diodorus,  who  believed  them  to  be  genuine. 


128 


*  Plate  33. 


THE  AGES  OF  TRANSITION 
Their  spuriousness  was  conclusively  demonstrated  by  the 
great  Richard  Bentley. 

Lyric  poets  too  arose  in  Sicily  and  Asia  Minor.  Stesi- 
chorus  of  Himera,  who  was  stricken  blind  because  he  spoke  ill 
of  beautiful  Helen  of  Troy,  and  Ibycus  of  Rhegium,  who 
sings  with  almost  Sapphic  fire  of  roses  and  nightingales  and 
Eros 

11  Who  shooteth  his  melting  glance  from  under  his 
shadowy  eyelids." 

But  most  remarkable  for  its  volume  of  talent  is  the  galaxy 
of  poets  gathered  at  Syracuse  round  the  great  tyrant  Hiero. 
His  wealth  is  indicated  by  his  frequent  victories  in  the  chariot- 
races  of  Greece.  To  these  athletic  triumphs  we  owe  not  only 
the  incomparable  coin-types  of  Syracuse,  but  the  immortal 
victory-songs  of  Pindar.  The  eagle  flights  of  Pindar  I  have 
already  described  as  indescribable.  We  cannot,  I  think,  put 
ourselves  into  the  attitude  of  the  Greeks  with  regard  to  horse- 
races. Heavily  as  we  may  bet  about  them,  we  do  not  associate 
them  with  history  and  religion.  Until  we  do  so  Pindar  must 
remain  largely  a  stranger  to  us.  fie  is  like  some  fairy 
juggler  throwing  up  strings  of  jewels  which  vanish  when  we 
try  to  grasp  them.  Bacchylides  is  a  lesser,  more  facile 
Pindar.  I  have  mentioned  that  his  uncle  Simonides  and 
Anacreon  also  migrated  to  this  court.  Presently  they  were 
joined  by  a  greater  than  them  all — the  tragedian  ^Eschylus. 

As  the  East  had  powerful  barbarian  kingdoms  to  withstand, 
so  the  West  had  a  terrible  enemy  always  at  the  gates — the 
Semites.  These  Phoenician  traders  were  far  more  powerful  and 
aggressive  in  their  colony  of  Carthage  than  in  the  mother 
cities,  Tyre  and  Sidon.  Admirably  organised  as  a  State,  with 
able  generals  and  highly  trained  mercenary  troops,  they  coveted 
the  rich  island  of  Sicily.  They  seem  to  have  effected  a 
lodgment  on  the  west  end  of  the  island  before  the  Greeks 
came  to  colonise  the  east  and  south.  Thanks  to  the  great 
resources  of  the  tyrants  of  Syracuse,  the  Greeks  here  were 

I  129 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
more  successful  in  resisting  the  barbarians  than  were  the 
Ionians  of  the  east.  The  great  conflict  came  in  the  battle 
of  Himera,  fought,  according  to  tradition,  on  the  same  day 
as  Salamis,  and  won  by  Gelo,  who  preceded  his  brother 
Hiero  on  the  throne  of  Syracuse.  This  victory  thrust  the 
Phoenicians  back  into  their  corner  for  nearly  a  century. 

It  is  to  be  observed  that  Himera  and  Plataea  meant  far 
more  than  physical  victories.  Neither  Persians  nor  Phoe- 
nicians were  in  our  sense  barbarians ;  indeed,  so  far  as  political 
organisation  and  material  comfort  are  concerned  they  were  far 
ahead  of  the  Greeks.  It  was  a  question  which  of  two  civili- 
sations, which  of  two  spiritual  and  moral  standpoints,  should 
prevail.  In  these  victories  Europe  escaped  out  of  Gomorrah 
with  the  smell  of  the  brimstone  upon  the  hair  of  her  head  and 
the  skirts  of  her  raiment. 

The  town  nearest  to  the  Carthaginians  in  Sicily  was 
Selinus.  The  wealth  and  piety  of  this  city  are  indicated  by 
the  remains  of  eight  Doric  temples,  seven  of  which  belong  to 
the  sixth  and  early  fifth  centuries.  From  these  come  the 
earliest  examples  of  temple  sculpture.  The  earliest  is  the 
very  archaic  metope  *  which  shows  Perseus  cutting  off  the  head 
of  the  Gorgon,  who  is  clinging  to  a  small  Pegasus,  while 
Athene  stands  behind  to  encourage  the  hero.  The  heads 
are  full-face,  while  the  legs  are  in  profile.  The  Gorgon  is  the 
happiest  effort  (she  looks  the  happiest  of  the  three),  because 
this  was  a  recognised  art  type  of  ugliness  and  terror. 
The  other  f  here  illustrated  is  of  the  early  fifth  century,  a  little 
before  the  Olympia  metopes.  It  represents  with  great  dignity 
and  beauty  the  appearance  of  Hera  to  Zeus  when  she  came 
in  all  her  finery,  as  related  in  Homer,  to  beguile  his  heart. 
Observe  how  admirably  the  scene  is  designed  to  fill  the  space 
of  the  panel  without  overcrowding. 

Acragas,  too,  the  home  of  the  tyrant  Theron,  has  left  us 
ruins  of  a  colossal  temple  of  an  unusual  design.  The  columns 
are  so  huge  that  a  man  can  stand  inside  the  fluting  of  them. 

*  Plate  34,  Fig.  i.  |  plate  34>  Fig- 


THE  AGES  OF  TRANSITION 
The  most  remarkable  feature  is  the  row  of  pillars,  carved  to 
represent  men,  bearing  up  the  heavy  entablature,  as  the 
caryatids  of  the  Erechtheum  carried  their  portico  upon  their 
heads.  But  the  motive  at  Acragas  was  to  indicate  the  strength 
of  the  bearers  and  the  weight  of  the  burden.  The  refined 
Athenian  put  maidens  in  their  place,  with  a  very  light  roof  to 
carry.  It  was  not  an  idea  that  found  much  acceptance  among 
the  Greeks,  though  it  is  rather  popular  with  the  modern 
architect — witness  the  Hermitage  Palace  at  Petersburg. 

Of  all  the  splendours  of  ancient  Syracuse  the  best  memorials 
are  the  lofty  Doric  columns  built  into  the  walls  of  the 
Christian  cathedral.  For  Syracusan  art,  however,  we  prefer 
to  turn  to  their  coins.*  It  is  said  that  Gelo  cast  these  first 
beautiful  silver  pieces  out  of  the  spoil  taken  from  the  Car- 
thaginians at  Himera.  The  reverse  always  bears  the  chariot, 
with  four  horses  for  a  tetradrachm,  two  for  a  didrachm,  and 
one  for  a  drachma.  On  the  obverse  is  the  head  of  the  nymph 
Arethusa,  who  presided  over  the  sacred  spring  on  the  penin- 
sular citadel  of  Syracuse  which  was  called  Ortygia.  The 
dolphins  around  the  head  are  held  to  indicate  the  salt  sea 
which  surrounds  this  fresh  spring  of  water.  If  the  coin  types 
are  any  proof,  we  may  suppose  that  Gelo  thought  more  of  his 
victories  at  Olympia  in  the  chariot  race  than  of  his  triumph 
on  the  battlefield  of  Himera. 

•  Plate  35. 


131 


IV 


THE  GRAND  CENTURY 


&t)t  irdiBti  'Adavalwv  tftakovTO  (paevvav  KprjTrld'  e\ev6epias. 

Pindar. 

The  Rise  of  Athens 

EVER  in  all  the  world's  history  was 
*  there  such  a  leap  of  civilisation  as  in 
Greece  of  the  fifth  century.    In  one 
town  of  about  thirty  thousand  citi- 
jj^  zens  during  the  lifetime  of  a  man 
and   his   father  these  things  oc- 
curred  :  a  world-conquering  Power 
was   shattered  for  ever,  a  naval 
empire  was  built  up,  the  drama  was 
developed  to  full  stature,  sculpture 
grew  from  crude  infancy  to  a  height  it  has  never  yet  sur- 
passed, painting  became  a  fine  art,  architecture  rose  from 
clumsiness  to  the  limit  of  its  possibilities  in  one  direction, 
history  was  consummated  as  a  scientific  art,  the  most  in- 
fluential of  all  philosophies  was  begotten.    And  all  this  under 
no  fostering  despot,  but  in  the  extreme  human  limit  of  liberty, 
equality,  and  fraternity.    One  Athenian  family  might  have 
known  Miltiades,  Themistocles,  ^Eschylus,  Sophocles,  Euri- 
pides, Socrates,  Pheidias,  Pericles,  Anaxagoras,  Aristophanes, 
Herodotus,  Thucydides,  Polygnotus,  and  Ictinus. 

No  historical  cause  will  account  for  genius,  no  historian 
can  predict  its  coming.  Some  say  that  great  literature  is  pro- 
duced by  outbursts  of  national  emotion,  as  Shakespeare  was 
"  produced  "  by  the  defeat  of  the  Spanish  Armada  (though  he 
132 


PLATE  35.    EARLY  COINS  OK  SICILY  AND  [/>.  132 

MAGNA  GK.KCIA 
I.  NAXOS.  2.  TAREMTUH.  3.  <  ATANA.  4.  BYKACUSB 

(See  p.  131) 


THE  GRAND  CENTURY 

was  twenty-four  when  it  happened)  and  Milton  by  the  Puritan 
rebellion  (though  he  wrote  "Comus"  in  1634).  Others  main- 
tain that  art  is  the  blossom  of  decay.  It  is  vain  to  look  to 
politics  for  the  real  cause  of  the  uprising  of  genius.  But  when 
a  whole  state  rises  simultaneously  to  an  intellectual  heat,  at 
which  masterpieces  are  thrown  off  almost  daily,  in  almost 
every  department  of  human  activity,  we  may,  and  must,  look 
for  some  historical  and  political  explanation. 

Peisistratus,  as  I  have  argued,  had  laid  the  foundations  of 
Athenian  civilisation,  partly  by  making  it  into  a  real  city- 
state,  partly  by  direct  encouragement  of  art  and  literature, 
partly  by  promoting  commerce,  and  thus  opening  the  way 
to  foreign  influences.  Then  in  507  Cleisthenes  and  the 
Spartans  had  given  Athens  a  free  republic,  with  distinctly 
democratic  tendencies.  Thus  the  cold  domination  of  the 
conservative,  uncultured  aristocracy,  who  had  mainly  been 
occupied  in  agricultural  pursuits,  had  lost  ground,  although, 
no  doubt,  the  Areopagus,  which  still  "directed  most  things," 
maintained  its  influence  to  a  considerable  extent.  What  now 
grew  into  the  most  powerful  element  in  the  state  was  the 
seafaring  commercial  population,  who  lived  mainly  on  the 
sea-coast.  These  were  the  restless,  eager  brains  which  were 
beginning  to  think  things  out,  and  to  find  their  bearings  in 
the  big  world  outside  Attica.  They  would  be  in  constant 
business  relations  with  their  Ionian  kinsmen  across  the  sea, 
and  thus  catch  a  tincture  of  their  cosmopolitan  culture.  Ac- 
cordingly, when  at  the  close  of  the  sixth  century  the  Ionians 
rose  in  revolt  against  their  Persian  masters,  Athens,  with 
Eretria,  another  commercial  city  of  Eastern  connections, 
alone  responded  to  their  cry  for  help.  It  was  only  a  raid,  but 
it  singed  the  Great  King's  beard  by  burning  one  of  his 
capitals,  Sardis.  For  this  revenge  was  promised.  The 
Great  King  of  those  days  was  no  effeminate,  luxurious  Oriental, 
such  as  those  whom  Alexander  chased  about  Asia  in  later 
days.  The  Medes  and  Persians  were  then  invincible  con- 
querors, who  had  just  devoured  all  the  great  empires  and 

U3 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

ancient  civilisations  of  the  East.    They  were  out  to  conquer 
the  world,  and  now  nothing  but  a  narrow  sea  lay  between 
them  and  the  presumptuous  Greeks.    Accordingly,  ambas- 
sadors were  sent  in  the  usual  fashion  to  Greece,  to  demand 
earth  and  water  in  token  of  submission.    The  Athenians  are 
said  to  have  thrown  their  envoys  into  the  barathron  where  the 
bodies  of  felons  were  flung  for  burial,  there  to  collect  what 
earth  they  could.     The  Spartans,  with  whom  originality  was 
never  a  strong  point,  threw  theirs  into  a  well,  indicating  thereby 
that  the  answer  was  in  the  negative.  So  Darius  collected  a  very 
great  host  from  all  his  vassals,  and  sent  it  round  by  land,  with 
the  ships  coasting  alongside.   Fortunately  for  Greece,  the  fleet 
met  with  fearful  shipwreck  off  the  dangerous  Chalcidian  pro- 
montory of  Mount  Athos.     In  490  Darius  tried  again.  This 
time  it  was  a  much  smaller  force,  designed,  not  to  conquer 
Greece,  but  merely  to  punish  Athens  and  Eretria.    It  was  a 
naval  expedition  only,  but  room  was  provided  in  the  ships  to 
bring  back  the  Athenians  in  chains  for  summary  judgment. 
Datis  and  Artaphernes  were  the  leaders,  but  the  ex-tyrant 
Hippias  was  there  to  show  them  the  way  to  the  Acropolis, 
where  it  seems  he  already  had  some  friends  awaiting  his 
return.    But  Athens  also  had  an  ex-tyrant  of  the  Chersonese 
among  her  generals,  one  who  knew  the  Persian  method  of 
fighting  and  had  the  strongest  motives  for  resisting  them. 
That  tyrant  was  Miltiades.    Hippias'  plan  was  to  cross  over 
the  strait  from  Euboea,  where  the  Persians  had  succeeded  in 
enslaving  Eretria,  land  on  the  north  coast  of  Attica  with 
a  large  force,  and  while  the  land  army  of  Athens  was 
engaged  there,  slip  round  with  the  fleet  to  Peiraeus  and  catch 
Athens  undefended.    His  plans  miscarried,  for  the  Athenian 
line  swept  down  the  hill  at  Marathon  *  upon  the  Persian 
archers  before  they  were  fully  deployed,  and  with  their 
lightning  charge  hurled  them  back  into  the  sea  with  great 
slaughter,  then  marched  back  at  full  speed  to  the  city,  in 
time. 

*  Plate  36. 

134 


THE  GRAND  CENTURY 
This  was  the  triumph  of  the  Athenian  hoplite — his  only 
really  great  feat  in  history — led  by  aristocrats  and  governed 
by  an  aristocratic  council.  The  hoplite  himself  was  a  com- 
fortable burgess  who  could  afford  a  full  suit  of  armour.  It 
was  not  a  victory  for  democracy,  and  the  clamorous  pro- 
letariat of  the  Peiraeus  had  little,  if  any,  share  in  it.  But  it 
was  a  purely  Athenian  triumph.  Alone — with  the  help  of  her 
little  Boeotian  friend  Plataea — alone  she  had  done  it.  The 
great  Dorian  city  had  been  urgently  entreated  by  the  runner 
Philippides  to  send  aid.  But  Sparta  was  busy  with  a  festival 
and  had  to  wait  until  the  moon  came  right  for  marching. 
Athens  now,  by  virtue  of  this  supreme  achievement,  stepped 
up  into  the  second  rank  of  Greek  Powers. 

A  few  years  later  some  slaves  working  in  the  Athenian 
silver-mines  at  Laurium  chanced  to  strike  a  rich  vein  of  metal. 
All  Athenian  citizens  were  shareholders  in  all  the  state's 
property,  and  naturally  expected  to  divide  the  profits,  which 
would  amount  to  about  ten  francs  a  head.  Then  stood  up  a 
certain  Themistocles — not  an  aristocrat,  but  a  persuasive 
speaker  with  the  supplest  brain  that  Zeus  had  ever  created  since 
Hermes  stole  the  cows — and  proposed  to  spend  the  whole 
bonus  on  ships.  This  is  the  turning-point  of  Athenian  history. 
The  stout  hoplites  who  had  won  the  day  at  Marathon  stood 
aghast  at  the  proposal.  They  pointed  out  that  the  strength 
of  Pallas  lay  in  her  spear,  that  to  create  a  navy  would  be  to 
encourage  those  turbulent  radicals  at  the  Peiraeus.  Besides, 
what  was  it  for  ?  The  Persians  had  gone  home  again. 
Themistocles,  in  reply,  drew  attention  to  a  little  war  then  on 
hand  with  .^Egina,  an  island  obviously  not  to  be  conquered 
by  hoplites  only.  Doubtless  a  Greek  neighbour  was  the  more 
persuasive  bogey,  but  Themistocles  must  have  known  that 
Persia  was  the  enemy.  Athens  did  not  require  a  hundred 
new  ships  to  fight  AZglna.,  which  had  not  a  score  for  use  in 
battle.  No  doubt  Themistocles  had  the  support  of  the 
"  nautical  rabble,"  for  he  gained  a  majority  for  his  proposal, 
and  soon  afterwards  got  rid  of  his  chief  opponent,  Aristeides, 

"35 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
by  ostracism.    Thus  Athens   acquired  a  fleet  beyond  all 
comparison  the  most  powerful  in  Greek  waters.    It  was 
needed. 

Persia  had  spent  the  interval  in  suppressing  Egypt ; 
Darius  was  dead,  and  Xerxes  reigned  in  his  stead.  But  still 
the  slave  stood  behind  the  royal  chair  to  whisper  every  day 
at  dinner,  "  Master,  remember  the  Athenians."  In  480  he 
had  time  to  remember  them.  This  time  there  were  to  be  no 
miscalculations  ;  no  mere  raid  this  time,  but  the  hugest 
armament  in  history.  No  shipwrecks  this  time:  where  the 
army  had  to  cross  the  sea  at  the  Dardanelles  a  bridge  was 
constructed  ;  where  the  fleet  had  to  round  the  promontory  a 
canal  was  dug. 

The  host  was  on  the  same  scale.  Herodotus  and  ^schylus 
alike  delight  to  parade  the  outlandish  names  of  the  Oriental 
leaders,  to  display  the  numbers  of  that  mighty  host  of  all  the 
nations  of  the  earth,  how  they  drank  the  rivers  dry  as  they 
marched,  to  dwell  on  the  strange  equipment  of  the  remote 
barbarians  of  Thrace,  India,  and  the  Soudan,  the  wealth  and 
magnificence  of  the  Great  King,  how  he  lashed  the  sea  when 
it  broke  his  bridge,  how  he  questioned  the  exiled  Spartan 
king  Demaratus,  unable  to  believe  that  these  little  people 
should  dare  to  stand  up  against  him.  Even  more  than  the 
life  and  death  of  Crcesus,  this  immortal  story  of  the  Persian 
monarch's  great  Armada  and  its  fall,  with  the  tragic  contrast 
between  his  glorious  setting  out  and  miserable  return,  stirred 
the  imagination  of  the  Greeks  for  ever  afterwards.  Did  it 
not  illustrate  their  favourite  philosophy  of  "No  excess"  and 
"  Know  thyself"  ?  All  their  art  was  based  on  this  motive '■ 
"  Know  thyself ;  practise  Reverence,  because  Wealth  and 
Prosperity  lead  to  Insolence,  and  that  arouses  Envy  in  gods 
and  men.  Wrath  (Nemesis)  follows  on  the  heels  of  Insolence, 
beguiling  with  false  Hope,  and  finally  leading  into  Ruin." 
That  is  the  doctrine  of  all  Greek  tragedy ;  both  Herodotus  and 
Thucydides  illustrated  it  in  history,  the  former  taking  Persia 
and  the  latter  Athens  for  its  examples  and  victims.  But  it 
136 


THE  GRAND  CENTURY 
governed  their  art  also ;  it  is  the  secret  of  the  self-restraint 
that  characterises  all  the  best  of  their  work.  That  virtue  of 
Aidos  ruled  their  spirits.  That  is  why  it  is  so  absurd  to 
think  of  the  Greeks  as  happy  pagans.  They  walked  in  the 
fear  of  the  Lord,  in  the  shadow  of  tragedy. 

The  news  of  that  marshalling  of  the  host  found  Greece  in 
a  state  of  disunion  and  terror.  Some  states  submitted  at  the 
first  summons.  All  sent  for  advice  to  the  Delphic  oracle. 
Apollo,  I  regret  to  say,  was  panic-stricken.  He  told  the 
Cretans  not  to  interfere,  he  told  the  Argives  to  guard  their 
own  head ;  to  Athens  in  particular  he  sent  the  most  terrible 
menaces:  "O  wretched  men,  why  sit  ye  here?  Fly  to  the 
ends  of  the  earth,  leaving  your  houses  and  the  high  citadel  of 
your  wheel-shaped  city.  .  .  .  For  fire  and  swift  Ares,  driving 
the  Syrian  chariot,  destroyeth  it.  And  he  will  destroy  many 
other  castles,  and  not  yours  alone  ;  and  he  will  deliver  many 
temples  of  the  immortals  to  devouring  fire,  which  now  stand 
dripping  with  sweat  and  shaken  with  terror ;  black  blood 
trickles  from  the  topmost  roofs,  foretelling  inevitable  ruin. 
Go  from  the  sanctuary,  and  steel  your  hearts  to  meet  mis- 
fortunes." Conceive  the  effect  of  such  an  oracle  at  such  a 
time,  and  conceive  the  courage  of  Athens  in  preparing  to 
resist !  Thessaly  submitted ;  Gelo  of  Syracuse,  the  most 
powerful  Greek  ally  they  could  have,  had  declined  to  help, 
being  in  reality  fully  occupied  with  the  Carthaginian  invasion 
of  Sicily  ;  Corcyra  was  sitting  on  the  fence.  Thebes  was 
supposed  to  be  traitorous,  but  there  is  little  doubt  that  history 
has  been  unfair  to  Thebes.  Nevertheless,  the  Persian  was 
invited  to  do  his  worst.  The  Spartan  plan  was  to  draw  strong 
lines  across  the  Isthmus  of  Corinth  and  to  fight  there  in  defence 
of  the  Peloponnese,  which  was  all  the  Greece  that  Sparta 
cared  about.  This  meant  the  desertion  of  all  the  northern 
parts.  Eventually  she  was  persuaded  to  try  resistance  at 
the  northern  passes,  but  she  did  so  half-heartedly.  Tempe 
was  found  to  be  indefensible,  for  the  invaders  were  pouring 
over  another  pass  to  the  west  of  it.    The  first  resistance  was 

137 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

therefore  made  at  Thermopylae,  where  the  mountains  left  only 
a  narrow  track  along  the  shore. 

The  battle  of  Thermopylae  and  the  death  of  Leonidas 
with  his  three  hundred  Spartans  are  often  represented  as  a 
forlorn  hope  and  a  gallant  suicide.  It  was,  according  to 
Dr.  G.  B.  Grundy,  the  modern  historian  of  these  wars,  a 
reasonable  plan  of  defence,  though  intended  only  as  a  first 
line  of  resistance.  Six  thousand  Greek  hoplites  marched 
with  Leonidas,  and  they  should  have  been  sufficient  to  hold 
that  narrow  pass,  and  the  mountain  track,  which  alone  could 
turn  it,  against  a  great  force.  Of  course,  the  Persians  were 
coming  by  land  and  sea,  but  Themistocles,  with  the  Greek 
fleet,  was  to  hold  their  fleet  in  check  at  a  parallel  point.  The 
plan  failed,  because  the  Phocians,  who  were  guarding  the 
mountain  track,  were  caught  napping  and  fled.  The  Pelo- 
ponnesian  allies  who  were  then  sent  back  by  Leonidas  were 
not  being  dismissed  because  the  case  was  hopeless,  but 
despatched  to  defend  the  point  where  the  mountain  track 
debouches  into  the  main  pass.  This  they  failed  to  do. 
Leonidas  was  caught  between  two  fires,  and  perished  valiantly 
with  all  his  men.  It  was  not  the  less  glorious  because  it  was 
reasonable.  Meanwhile  a  great  storm  had  inflicted  serious 
loss  on  the  Persian  fleet. 

Now  the  strategy  of  defending  the  isthmus  seemed  the 
only  hope,  and  that,  of  course,  meant  the  abandonment  of 
Athens.  Sadly  the  Athenians  saw  the  necessity ;  they 
removed  their  wives  and  children  to  the  island  of  Salamis, 
and  put  all  their  fighting  men  on  board  their  fleet,  which 
amounted  to  nearly  two  hundred  vessels.  Modern  authorities 
believe  that  the  defence  of  the  Acropolis  was  a  serious  attempt, 
rather  than  a  fanatical  misinterpretation  of  that  second  oracle 
which  bade  Athens  trust  to  wooden  walls.  The  Persians 
swept  on  irresistibly,  wrecked  and  ruined  Attica,  and  burnt 
the  city  of  Athens  and  her  citadel — not,  however,  so  com- 
pletely as  to  destroy  all  the  old  sculptures  there. 

The  great  sea-fight  of  Salamis  *  needs  no  describing  here. 

*  Plate  37. 

138 


THE  GRAND  CENTURY 

It  was  Themistocles'  victory.  He  had  cajoled,  threatened,  and 
finally  deceived  the  Spartan  admiral  into  remaining  there 
instead  of  retiring  to  the  isthmus.  He  craftily  persuaded  the 
Persian  monarch  to  attack  the  Greeks  in  narrow  waters 
where  numbers  were  only  an  obstacle ;  the  fleet  which  won 
the  day  was  his  creation.  The  battle  has  gained  its  deathless 
glamour  from  the  picture  of  Xerxes  sitting  on  the  hill  above, 
enthroned  on  marble,  to  watch  the  engagement  taking  place 
at  his  feet.  In  that  narrow  strait  between  Salamis  and  the 
mainland,  and  in  that  lucid  atmosphere,  every  detail  of  the 
fight  must  have  been  visible  to  the  monarch,  and  his  courtiers, 
his  eunuchs,  and  his  concubines.  There  was  no  smoke  or 
dust  ;  the  manoeuvre  was  simply  "  full  speed  ahead  and  ram," 
steering,  if  you  could,  so  that  the  metal  prow  of  your  ship 
struck  the  enemy  obliquely,  and  sheared  off  the  whole  row  of 
protruding  oars  on  one  side.  Then,  unless  the  enemy  sank 
under  the  impact,  it  was  a  case  of  hand-to-hand  fighting  with 
spear  and  shield  against  arrows  and  scimitars. 

Thus  there  was  no  need  of  the  lines  at  the  isthmus. 
Athens  had  conquered  at  sea  as  she  had  conquered  on  land 
at  Marathon.  Xerxes  fled  home  with  the  bulk  of  his  army 
in  mighty  dread  lest  his  bridge  over  the  Hellespont  should  be 
broken. 

He  left  behind  him  a  great  force  under  Mardonius,  a 
force  of  picked  Persian  cavalry  and  infantry,  which  for  some 
time  devastated  Northern  Greece  and  perpetrated  a  second 
sack  of  Athens.  At  last  it  came  to  the  great  campaign  of 
Plataea  (479).  Here  the  Spartan  infantry  got  its  opportunity 
and  proved  worthy  of  it,  though  the  Athenian  hoplites 
slew  their  thousands  also.  So  at  length  the  Persian  peril 
rolled  away  and  Greece  was  able  to  breathe  again. 

This  whole  episode  was  the  great  achievement  of  the 
Greeks  in  the  field  of  action.  It  passed  into  the  realm  of 
heroic  history.  It  is  almost  the  only  historical  episode  which 
the  drama,  usually  devoted  to  heroic  and  epic  subjects,  was 
permitted  to  use.    No  public  oration  was  complete  without  a 

U9 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

reference  to  it.  Vase-painters  also  depicted  the  story  of 
Darius  and  Xerxes  as  they  did  that  of  Hector  and  Priam. 
It  remained  on  the  border-line  of  the  permissible,  however, 
for  when  temple  sculptors  wished  to  allude  to  it  they  generally 
did  so  under  cover  of  Homeric  contests  between  Greeks  and 
Trojans  or  mythological  battles  between  gods  and  giants  or 
Lapithae  and  Centaurs.  The  memory  of  this  united  action 
had  some  influence  in  counteracting  the  local  separatism  of 
the  Greeks. 

The  side  of  this  great  contest  which  chiefly  concerns  us 
is  its  effect  in  promoting  Athenian  civilisation.  Salamis  and 
Plataea  had  pushed  Athens  forward  into  the  front  rank  of 
Greece,  to  a  position  almost  on  a  level  with  Sparta  herself. 
It  is  true  that  she  still  had  to  ask  Sparta's  permission,  or  to 
trick  her  into  acquiescence,  before  she  could  build  the  walls 
she  desired.  But  above  all  it  was  a  triumphant  vindication 
of  the  policy  of  Themistocles.  Even  Aristeides,  who  had 
come  home  to  help  his  country  in  her  hour  of  trial,  had 
to  admit  that.  Henceforth  he  seems  to  be  working  with 
Themistocles  on  the  democratic  side.  For  Salamis  had  out- 
shone even  Marathon.  The  "  nautical  rabble  "  had  justified 
itself.  The  party  of  cautious  hoplites,  who  feared  democracy, 
no  longer  controlled  the  policy  of  the  state.  Instead, 
they  remained  on  their  devastated  farms,  grumbling  at  the 
"demagogues,"  and  issuing  forth  to  support  conservative 
politicians  like  Kimon  and  Nikias.  Their  great  champion  in 
literature  is  Aristophanes,  who  loves  to  depict  the  old 
Marathon  men  as  the  real  bulwark  of  the  state.  When 
Athens  was  rebuilt  Themistocles  saw  to  it  that  the  Peiraeus 
should  henceforth  be  part  of  the  city,  connected  with  it  by 
long  walls.  The  Peiraeus  stood  for  naval  interests  and  naval 
empire,  for  commerce  (though  not  for  peace),  and  for 
democracy.  It  was  not  so  far  off  but  that  the  voters  could 
flock  up  to  Athens  when  an  Assembly  was  to  be  held.  It 
contained  a  large  population  of  resident  foreigners. 

This  was  how  Athens  became  a  democratic  city-state. 
140 


Plate  38.  PERICLES 
(Seu  pp.  142  and  160) 


I A  Mo 


THE  GRAND  CENTURY 
Democracy  advanced  in  various  stages  :  the  poorest  were 
made  eligible  for  the  magistracies ;  the  encroaching  power 
of  the  Areopagus  was  reduced  ;  the  magistrates  (archons) 
and  the  Councillors  were  no  longer  leaders  elected  for  merit, 
but  ordinary  burgesses  chosen  by  lot ;  the  Assembly  became 
actually  sovereign  over  administration  within  the  terms  of  the 
constitution.  Themistocles  himself  was  presently  ostracised, 
being  far  too  great  and  clever  to  be  a  comfortable  companion 
in  a  democratic  city-state.    Curiously  enough,  time  has  spared 


one  of  the  very  "ostraka, 


or  potsherds  bearing  his  \      ®S  ^  p  „        ' ! 

name  by  which  he  was      ^ i  VKJjVJ^-^ 
condemned     to  banish-   I  v  *      /  '  i 


Ostrakon  of  Themistocles 


condemned    to  banish- 
ment. 

Then  an  empire  fell 
into  their  lap.  It  began, 
as  most  ancient  empires  did  begin,  with  an  alliance  gradually 
transformed  into  a  tyranny.  Most  Ionian  cities  had  already 
won  their  freedom  on  the  defeat  of  the  Persian  navy,  but  some 
had  still  to  be  liberated,  and  all  needed  protection  for  the 
future.  The  year  after  Platxa  was  spent  by  the  Greek  fleets 
in  cruising  about  the  /Egean,  doing  the  work  of  liberation. 
At  first  Spartan  admirals  were  in  command,  but  the  Ionians 
disliked  Dorian  discipline,  and  Pausanias,  the  victor  of  Plataea, 
was  puffed  up  with  pride  and  power.  So  they  turned  to  Athens, 
whose  commanders  were  Kimon,  the  rich  and  generous  son 
of  Miltiades,  Aristeides  the  Just,  and  Xanthippus,  the  father  of 
Pericles,  all  men  of  the  aristocracy,  but  loyal  servants  of  Athens 
and  capable  seamen.  Thus  they  formed  the  Confederacy  of 
Delos,  a  league  of  maritime  states,  Ionians  who  worshipped 
the  Delian  Apollo.  On  his  sacred  island  was  to  be  the 
treasury  of  the  league,  and  there  the  common  synods  were  to 
meet.  This  league  Athens  soon  transformed  into  an  empire. 
From  the  first  some  of  its  members  were  too  poor  to  supply 
the  normal  unit  of  subscription,  the  trireme  galley.  These, 
then,  contributed  money  on  the  assessment  of  Aristeides. 

141 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
Athens  built  the  ships  for  them  in  her  own  dockyards  and  sent 
her  collectors  round  for  the  money.  Soon,  with  true  Ionian 
slackness,  all  the  states  except  Chios,  Samos,  and  Lesbos 
converted  their  naval  contribution  into  a  money  payment. 
States  were  coerced  into  joining  the  league,  garrisons  and 
magistrates  were  sent  from  Athens  to  hold  them  in  subjection. 
Often  colonies  of  Athenian  citizens  were  planted  on  their 
territory.  When  the  Persian  danger  was  finally  removed  by 
the  destruction  of  the  Phoenician  fleet  at  Eurymedon  the 
allies  began  to  contemplate  withdrawal.  They  were  very 
soon  taught  that  membership  was  not  a  voluntary  privilege. 
Now  the  empire  of  Athens  was  a  naked  despotism,  only 
mitigated  by  the  fact  that  many  of  the  states  were  permitted 
to  manage  their  own  internal  affairs.  The  treasury  of  the 
league  was  removed  from  Delos  to  Athens,  and  the  money 
was  spent  at  her  discretion.  Meanwhile  the  ambitions  of 
Athens  had  extended  with  success.  She  was  no  longer  content 
with  a  naval  empire.  She  began  to  cherish  plans  of  a  great 
colonial  dominion  in  the  west ;  she  wanted  to  eat  up  her 
shrunken  neighbour,  Megara,  in  order  to  have  an  outlet  to  the 
Corinthian  Gulf;  she  took  Naupactus  on  those  waters  as  a 
base,  and  sent  reconnoitring  expeditions  to  Sicily  and  planned 
a  great  Panhellenic  colony  at  Thurii,  in  South  Italy.  More- 
over, she  mixed  in  the  affairs  of  great  foreign  Powers  like 
Egypt.    She  attacked  Cyprus  and  overran  Bceotia. 

In  all  this  imperial  policy  from  about  460  onwards  the 
leader  of  the  democracy,  who  by  his  personal  ascendancy  was 
almost  as  powerful  as  a  monarch  at  Athens,  was  Pericles.* 
He  was  one  of  those  aristocrats  who  succeed  in  securing  the 
allegiance  of  the  masses,  like  Tiberius  Gracchus,  or  Pitt,  or 
Salisbury,  by  their  very  aloofness.  His  single  aim  was  to 
make  Athens  free,  powerful,  and  glorious.  In  Greece 
imperialism  was  allied,  as  it  is  not  with  us,  with  radicalism. 
At  home  Pericles  had  swept  away  the  last  vestiges  of  power 
from  the  Areopagus  ;  he  had  introduced  payment  of  jurymen, 

•  Plate  38. 

142 


PLATE  39.    PEDI  MENTAL  FIGURES  FROM  THE  TEMPLE      [ /.  142 
OF  APHAIA  AT  .EG1NA   (See  p.  147) 


THE  GRAND  CENTURY 
payment  of  soldiers  and  sailors,  payment  to  enable  the  poor 
to  attend  the  theatre.  He  was,  in  short,  what  we  should  now 
call  a  Socialist.  Abroad  he  was  the  advocate  of  imperial 
expansion  by  land  as  well  as  sea.  He  was  for  keeping  a 
tight  hold  over  the  "allies,"  and  he  justified  the  appropriation 
of  their  subscriptions  to  the  private  purposes  of  Athens.  He 
had  apparently  come  into  power  over  Kimon's  shoulders  as 
the  advocate  of  hostility  to  Sparta.  The  Peloponnesian  War 
was  of  his  making.  There  is  much  in  this  sketch  of  his 
policy  which  displeases  us.  But  there  was  something  in 
the  personality  of  Pericles  which  made  even  critics  like 
Thucydides  venerate  his  name,  while  they  execrated  the  men 
who  carried  on  precisely  the  same  line  of  policy  after  his 
death.  This  was  his  idealistic  patriotism,  free  from  all  sordid 
and  selfish  motives.  He  believed  in  Athenian  liberty,  and  he 
was  prepared  to  extend  it  by  force  if  necessary.  This 
illogical  and  paradoxical  state  of  mind  is  common  to  idealists  • 
we  ourselves  have  our  pugnacious  "  pacifists,"  our  churches 
prepared  to  extend  the  Gospel  of  Peace  by  the  sword. 

Conflict  with  Sparta  was  inevitable.  Athens  was  con- 
stantly treading  on  her  toes  in  various  parts  of  Greece.  She 
was  an  upstart  rival  aspiring  openly  to  the  foremost  place  in 
Hellas.  That  being  so,  we  have  no  need  to  inquire  closely 
into  the  occasion  of  the  great  war  which  filled  the  latter 
quarter  of  the  century  from  431  to  404,  and  ended  in  the 
humiliating  defeat  of  Athens.  In  any  case  the  causes  of  it 
must  be  sought  much  earlier  in  the  century,  since  Athens  and 
Sparta  had  long  been  subsisting  on  terms  of  truce  only. 

The  main  features  of  the  Peloponnesian  War,  which  forms 
the  theme  of  the  great  history  of  Thucydides,  may  be  briefly 
stated.  Almost  before  it  began  Athens  had  to  surrender  all 
her  claims  to  land  empire.  That  had  been  a  mistake  from 
the  first,  for  Athens  could  never  turn  out  a  hoplite  line  fit  to 
stand  against  the  Spartan  charge.  The  strategy  of  Pericles, 
dictated  by  necessity,  was  to  retire  within  the  walls  of  the 
city,  relying  upon  the  fleet  to  keep  communications  open  and 

H3 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
effect  reprisals  on  the  enemy.    The  weakness  of  this  strategy 
lay  in  the  fact  that  no  fleet  could  touch  Sparta,  and  that  it 
put  a  very  serious  strain  on  the  rural  population  of  Attica, 
who  had  to  desert  their  homes  and  see  their  crops  ravaged 
in  yearly  forays  from  Sparta.    That  state  of  affairs  led  to 
a  disastrous  plague  at  Athens,  and  to  a  feeling  of  bitter- 
ness against  Pericles  which  darkened   his  closing  years. 
He  died  two  years  after  the  war  began,  and  his  place  was 
taken  by  Cleon,  who  walked  in  his  footsteps  as  democrat 
and  imperialist,  but,  lacking  his  lofty  personality  and  high 
birth,  has  come  very  badly  out  of  the  hands  of  history  and 
literature.    Aristophanes'  perpetual  appellation  of  "tanner" 
directed  against  him  probably  has  its  point  in  the  fact  that  he 
openly  represented  commercial  interests.    He  was  responsible 
for  the  shocking  decree  which  condemned  all  the  male 
inhabitants  of  Mitylene  to  death  in  punishment  of  their  revolt, 
a  decree  which  was  repented  and  repealed  at  the  eleventh 
hour,  and  he  was  a  frequent  obstacle  to  peace.    But  there  is 
no  ground  for  charging  him  with  selfishness  or  dishonesty, 
and  he  was  certainly  not  devoid  of  talent.    He  should  be 
credited  with  the  most  brilliant  achievement  of  the  Athenian 
campaign,  the  taking  of  Sphacteria  and  its  Spartan  garrison. 

It  would  seem  that  the  war  might  have  gone  on  for  ever, 
but  for  the  insane  ambition  of  the  Athenian  democracy,  which 
led  her  to  despatch  a  huge  fleet  in  415  to  Sicily  for  the 
subjugation  of  that  island.    It  was  the  hare-brained  scheme 
of  that  good-looking  rascal  Alcibiades.  No  one  except  Socrates 
could  refuse  him  anything,  much  less  the  mass  meetings 
on  the  Athenian  Pnyx.    So  Athens  squandered  two  great 
expeditions  on  an  enterprise  undertaken  in  ignorance  and 
entrusted  to  inefficient  commanders.  With  all  her  reserves,  she 
just  managed  to  fit  out  a  new  fleet  and  gain  a  few  more  sea- 
fights,  but  the  end  could  not  be  long  delayed.    At  last  an 
Athenian  admiral  was  caught  napping  at  ^Egospotami. 
There  were  no  more  ships,  no  more  money  in  the  treasury. 
After  a  brief  siege  Athens  capitulated  to  Lysander  in  404. 
144 


THE  GRAND  CENTURY 
Such  in  briefest  outline  is  the  historical  content  of  the 
Great  Century,  and  such  is  the  story  of  the  first  of  European 
empires.  What  bearing  has  it  upon  our  original  inquiry  as 
to  the  causes  of  the  artistic  and  intellectual  brilliance  of  the 
fifth  century  ?  We  have,  to  start  with,  a  people  singularly 
endowed  by  Nature  with  quick  intelligence  and  a  marvellous 
sense  of  form.  The  Persian  wars  and  the  rise  of  Athens 
had  added  to  these  natural  advantages  a  passion  of  pride 
in  their  city  and  an  almost  fanatical  belief  in  her  mission. 
Thus  all  her  citizens  were  eager  to  do  their  utmost  to  increase 
the  beauty  and  honour  of  the  violet-crowned  city  and  her  virgin 
goddess.  A  city-state  makes  a  much  more  direct  appeal  to 
the  emotion  of  patriotism  than  the  large  modern  territorial 
state.  Lastly,  there  was  freedom  in  Athens  such  as  no  state  in 
history  has  ever  enjoyed,  freedom  in  thought  as  well  as  in 
politics.  This  has  been  denied,  but  the  attacks  made  upon 
Pheidias  and  Pericles,  and  upon  the  philosophers  Anaxagoras 
and  Socrates,  may  all  be  explained  on  political  grounds.  We 
have  only  to  look  at  the  plays  of  Aristophanes  to  see  what 
amazing  liberty  of  speech  prevailed  at  Athens.  Moreover,  it 
was  a  privileged  and  educated  equality.  We  must  never 
forget  the  thousands  of  slaves  whose  cruel  toil  in  mine  and 
factory  rendered  this  brilliant  society  possible  at  such  an 
early  stage  in  history.  It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  Greek 
liberty  and  communism  was  that  of  an  aristocracy,  however 
democratic  might  be  the  relations  between  its  members. 
Thus  you  have  at  Athens  a  large  citizen  body  lifted  by 
the  state  above  all  sordid  cares  and  interests,  living  a  very 
full  social  life  in  the  open  air,  with  everything  to  stimulate 
intellectual  interests — the  daily  speeches  and  debates  in 
law-court  and  Assembly,  the  continual  festivals  and  dramatic 
exhibitions,  the  endless  conversations  in  the  agora,  the 
palaestra,  and  the  various  colonnades,  the  daily  coming  and 
going  of  ships  from  all  quarters,  constant  embassies  from  the 
cities  of  the  League,  visits  from  all  the  talent  of  Greece,  just 
sufficient  intercourse  with  Egypt  and  the  East — everything 

k  145 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
to  stimulate  the  intelligence,  and  yet  a  dominant  religious  or 
moral  conviction  which  tended  inevitably  to  the  austerest 
self-restraint  and  abhorrence  of  all  extravagance. 

Pheidias 

In  the  great  oration  over  the  bodies  of  the  dead  Athenian 
soldiers  which  Thucydides  ascribes  to  Pericles  the  statesman 
is  made  to  express  his  ideal  of  Athens.  She  was  "the 
instructress  of  Greece."  She  alone,  he  said,  followed  "  culture 
without  extravagance,  and  philosophy  without  softness."  She 
alone  combined  daring  with  reflection.  She  alone  welcomed 
strangers,  and,  while  reverencing  the  gods  and  the  laws, 
permitted  freedom  of  speech  and  conscience  to  all  men.  He 
congratulated  her  upon  the  happiness  of  life  at  Athens,  the 
public  displays  and  sacrificial  banquets  which  afforded  daily 
delight  to  her  inhabitants.  He  did  not  lay  much  stress  upon 
the  outward  magnificence  of  the  city,  for  that,  in  a  large 
measure,  was  his  own  work.  But  it  is  that  aspect  of  his 
policy  which  we  can  all  appreciate,  whether  we  are  democrats 
or  imperialists  or  neither  or  both. 

Pericles  himself  set  the  example  which  Athens  followed 
of  encouraging  talent  from  all  quarters  to  devote  its  abilities 
to  the  service  of  Athens.  Aspasia  seems  to  have  maintained 
a  salon  which  was  frequented  by  most  of  the  men  of  genius 
of  the  day.  She  herself  was  of  Miletus,  and  being  an  Ionian, 
was  accustomed  to  a  freedom  of  intellectual  intercourse  denied 
to  the  cloistered  women  of  Attica.  Pericles  had  separated  by 
mutual  consent  from  his  wife,  and  though  the  laws  did  not 
allow  him  to  marry  a  foreigner,  he  lived  with  Aspasia  through 
most  of  his  public  career.  She  was  a  wit  as  well  as  a  beauty. 
At  her  house  you  would  meet  Pheidias  the  sculptor,  Damon 
the  musician,  Anaxagoras  the  philosopher,  Alcibiades,  and 
Socrates.  There,  we  may  presume,  the  plans  for  the  beauti- 
fication  of  Athens  were  freely  discussed. 

It  was  a  rare  opportunity  for  the  artists.  Here  was  an 
imperial  city  to  be  rebuilt,  and  plenty  of  money  to  build  with. 
146 


Manstll  Or  Co. 


Plate  41.    PORTIONS  OF  THE  EAST  FRIEZE  OF  THE  PARTHENON         [/.  146 

(Sec  p.  154) 


THE  GRAND  CENTURY 
The  directors  of  the  work  were  Pheidias  the  sculptor  and 
Ictinus  the  architect.  Pheidias  had  learnt  his  craft  under 
Ageladas  of  Argos.  Thus  he  stands  at  the  very  beginning  of 
the  period  of  fine  art.  Technical  mastery  over  stone  and 
bronze  was  by  no  means  complete  when  he  began  to  work. 
The  "archaic  smile"  still  hovered  over  the  lips  of  con- 
temporary sculptures,  the  eyes  were  too  prominent,  the  eyelids 
were  still  cut  to  meet  at  the  corners  instead  of  overlapping, 
hair  was  still  conventionally  rendered  by  parallel  grooves,  or 
spirals,  or  roughly  blocked  out  for  coloration. 

The  body,  however,  thanks  to  athletic  models,  was  already 
much  more  successfully  delineated  than  the  head.  Perhaps 
the  best  examples  of  fifth-century  sculpture  before  Pheidias 
are  the  pedimental  figures  from  ^!gina.  These  figures  from 
the  temple  of  Aphaia  at  ^gina  were  discovered  by  the 
English  architect  Cockerell  in  1 8 1 1 ;  they  were  acquired  by  the 
King  of  Bavaria,  restored  by  Thorwaldsen,  and  are  now  at  the 
Glyptothek  in  Munich.  Our  illustration  *  will  depict  their  style 
in  all  its  archaic  vigour.  All  but  the  face  is  highly  success- 
ful ;  the  naked  muscular  forms  of  the  warriors  follow  even  the 
poses  of  athletics,  especially  the  figure  in  the  attitude  of  a 
wrestler  making  his  hold  stooping  forward  to  drag  away  the 
body  of  Patroclus.  The  reader  should  also  notice  how  cleverly 
the  pose  is  designed  to  fit  that  very  difficult  angle  of  the 
pediment  where  the  roof  slopes  down.  It  taxed  the  ingenuity 
of  artists  to  compose  scenes  to  fit  these  triangular  spaces. 
The  ordinary  rule  is  that  the  east  pediments  should  depict  a 
scene  of  divine  peace  and  grandeur,  that  being  the  end  at 
which  the  worshippers  entered  the  temple.  The  west  pediments, 
on  the  contrary,  generally  display  a  struggle.  In  this  early 
i^Eginetan  temple  both  ends  are  filled  with  scenes  of  warfare 
from  the  epic  glories  of  ./Egina,  one  of  Ajax,  and  one  of  his 
father,  Telamon.  These  ^ginetan  sculptures  are  assigned  to 
the  period  between  Marathon  (490)  and  Salamis  (480).  The 
Harmodius  group  of  which  I  have  already  spoken  belongs 
clearly  to  the  same  phase. 

•  Plate  39. 

147 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
If  we  turn  from  this  to  the  Parthenon  sculptures,  we  shall 
see  the  amazing  swiftness  of  the  blossoming  of  Greek  art. 
With  Pheidias,  and  largely  no  doubt  owing  to  his  genius,  the 
plastic  art  has  conquered  its  stubborn  material,  but  it  has  not 
yet  attained  that  fatal  fluency  which  induces  carelessness  or 
conscious  elaboration  and  extravagant  striving  for  effect. 
This  is  the  stage  at  which  the  arts  and  crafts  produce  their 
masterpieces.  In  our  days,  thanks  to  mechanical  appliances, 
stone  is  as  easy  to  work  as  clay.  The  sculptor  produces  his 
model,  foreign  underlings  do  the  heavy  chiselling,  and  the 
artist  finishes  it  off.  This  is  perhaps  why  Rodin  produces 
such  an  effect  of  strength  by  leaving  much  of  his  work  in 
the  rough.  We  may  be  sure  that  Pheidias  executed  the 
whole  process  with  loving  care  and  diligence  from  first  to 
last. 

Here,  alas!  it  must  be  confessed  that  we  have  not  a  single 
work  which  we  can  ascribe  with  certainty  to  the  hand  of  the 
master  himself.  His  great  masterpieces,  the  Zeus  of  Olympia 
and  the  Parthenos  of  the  Parthenon,  were  of  ivory  and  gold. 
Of  course  they  have  perished  utterly.  We  have  to  content 
ourselves  with  descriptions — and  the  ancient  art  critic  was 
singularly  inept  even  for  an  art  critic — and  casual  attempts  at 
copying  on  coins  or  statuettes.    The  coins  of  Elis  do  indeed 

give  us  a  Zeus  of  con- 


siderable dignity  which 
may  impart  some  faint 
notion  of  the  glorious  ori- 
ginal, but  of  the  Athena 
Parthenos  we  have  not 
even  this  relic.  I  decline 
to  follow  the  text-books  on 
Greek  architecture  by  presenting  the  woolly-headed  "  Jove  of 
Otricoli "  or  the  well-groomed  but  fatuous  old  senator  known 
as  the  "  Dresden  Zeus  "  for  the  work  of  Pheidias.  Nor  will 
I  insult  him  by  depicting  the  Parthenos  by  means  of  the  stumpy 
"  Varvakeion  "  or  the  inchoate  "  Lenormant "  statuettes.  Such 
148 


Head  of  Zeus,  on 
Coin  of  Elis 


Head  of  Zeus,  on 
Coin  of  Philip  II. 
of  Macedon 


THE  GRAND  CENTURY 
caricatures  only  disturb  our  judgment.  For  these  statues  we 
had  better  trust  our  imaginations,  working  upon  what  Pliny 
tells  us :  "  The  beauty  of  the  Olympian  Zeus  seems  to  have 
added  something  to  the  received  religion,  so  thoroughly  does 
the  majesty  of  the  work  suit  the  deity." 

But  can  you,  after  all,  imagine  the  splendour  of  these  two 
statues  made  by  the  greatest  sculptor  who  has  ever  lived  ?  The 
flesh  parts  were  of  ivory,  the  clothing  of  solid  gold  on  a  core  of 
wood  or  stone.   Zeus  was  of  colossal  size,  forty  feet  high.  On 
his  head  was  a  green  garland  of  branched  olive  ;  in  his  right 
hand  he  bore  a  Victory  of  ivory  and  gold,  in  his  left  a  sceptre 
inlaid  with  every  kind  of  metal.    On  the  golden  robe  figures 
and  lilies  were  chased.    The  throne  was  adorned  with  gold 
and  precious  stones  and  ebony  and  ivory,  with  figures  painted 
and  sculptured  upon  it.    Even  the  legs  and  bars  of  the  throne 
were  adorned  with  reliefs.    Round  it  were  low  screens,  blue 
enamel  in  front,  and  paintings   by  the  sculptor's  brother, 
Panainos,  at  the  back  and  sides.    The  stool  on  which  the  god's 
feet  were  resting  was  adorned  with  figures  in  gold ;  the  base, 
on  which  the  throne  rested,  likewise.    We  must  not  picture 
ancient  Greek  art  as  cold  and  colourless  like  the  marble  statues 
by  which  it  is  represented  in  our  museums.    The  Greeks  loved 
colour,  and  used  it  everywhere.    We  have  grown  so  accustomed 
to  plain  white  statues  that  some  of  us  are  offended  by  the  idea 
of  colour  in  statuary  and  architecture.    In  this  matter  we 
may  safely  trust  the  good  taste  of  the  artists  who  could 
design  and  carve  so  wonderfully.    The  two  favourite  Greek 
marbles,  the  Parian  and  the  Pentelic,  are  both  of  themselves 
very  beautiful  fabrics,  far  more  lovely,  with  their  glisten- 
ing coarse  grain  and  the  intermixture  of  iron  which  gives 
them  a  warm  yellowish  glow,  than  the  favourite  modern  marble 
of  Carrara,  which  is  so  coldly  white  and  so  fine  of  texture  as  to 
dazzle  and  fatigue  the  eye  and  to  blur  all  the  delicate  outlines. 
But  the  Greeks  of  that  day  looked  upon  even  their  lovely 
marbles  as  we  do  upon  brick,  good  enough  for  building 
temples,  but  not  worthy  of  the  high  gods.    Ivory  and  gold 

149 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
for  the  gods,  if  the  worshippers  could  afford  it,  otherwise 
bronze. 

Regretfully,  therefore,  we  must  seek  the  genius  of  Pheidias 
in  works  which  were  probably  constructed  according  to  his 
designs,  minor  works,  mere  decorative  reliefs  applied  to 
architecture,  much  defaced  by  accident  and  time,  but  still 
bearing  the  stamp  of  grandeur  and  dignity.  It  seems  from  the 
•latest  evidence  that  the  execution  of  the  Parthenon  sculptures 
did  not  begin  until  after  the  banishment  of  Pheidias.  But  we 
may  well  believe  that  they  had  been  designed  by  the  master. 
In  any  case  they  are  originals  of  the  great  period,  and  thus 
far  better  guides  than  any  copies,  however  skilfully  executed. 
Plutarch  tells  us  that  as  the  buildings  of  Periclean  Athens  rose 
"majestic  in  size  and  inimitable  in  symmetry  and  grace,  the 
workmen  rivalled  one  another  in  the  artistic  beauty  of  their 
workmanship.  Especially  wonderful  was  their  speed.  Pheidias 
was  the  overseer."  The  surviving  relics  of  the  Parthenon 
sculptures  fall  into  three  groups,  according  to  their  place  on  the 
temple — the  Pediments,  the  Metopes,  and  the  Frieze. 

Of  these  the  Pediments  are  the  most  important  for  their 
size  and  prominence  in  the  building.  For  example,  they  are 
the  only  external  sculptures  noticed  by  the  traveller  Pausanias. 
Moreover,  each  figure  is  a  separate  statue  carved  in  the  round, 
and  perfectly  finished  back  and  front  alike,  though  by  no  possi- 
bility could  they  be  visible  except  from  the  front.  Ruskin  would 
inform  us  that  this  is  evidence  of  the  moral  excellence  of  the 
artist.  But  the  Greeks  were  a  practical  people  who  disliked 
waste  in  any  form,  and  Professor  Ernest  Gardner  is  probably 
right  in  suggesting  that  the  sculptor  finished  his  statues  in 
order  that  he  might  be  sure  they  were  rightly  made.  Such 
fidelity  to  his  religious  duty  is  evidence,  after  all,  of  moral 
excellence.  Time  has  wrought  cruel  havoc  with  the  sculptures. 
The  central  figures  had  gone  even  before  Carrey  made  his 
drawings  for  the  Marquis  de  Nointel  in  1674.  In  1687 
a  great  explosion  occurred,  when  a  Venetian  gunner  (with  the 
good  old  Venetian  name  of  Schwartz)  dropped  a  bomb  into  the 

150 


fig.  3.    reconstruction  of  the  acropolis.  (see  p.  163) 

Plate  43  [/».  150 


THE  GRAND  CENTURY 
Turkish  powder  magazine  stored  in  the  temple,  and  wrought 
further  havoc.  Then  the  victorious  General  Morosini  tried  to 
remove  some  of  the  figures,  and  broke  them  in  the  effort.  In 
1801  Lord  Elgin,  armed  with  a  firman  authorising  him  to 
remove  a  few  blocks  of  stone,  carried  off  the  greater  part  of 
the  surviving  sculptures.  From  him  they  were  purchased  by 
the  British  Government  for  the  British  Museum.  What- 
ever the  morality  of  this  capture,  it  was  a  blessing  in  effect, 
for  the  Parthenon  suffered  further  damage  during  the  War 
of  Liberation,  and  those  stones  which  remain  in  situ  have 
deteriorated  far  more  than  those  which  were  removed.  Be- 
sides, the  Greeks  have  still  plenty  of  ancient  marble  to  write 
their  names  on.  Forlorn  as  they  stand  in  the  Elgin  Room, 
battered  and  bruised  as  they  are,  all  headless  but  one,  and  he 
much  defaced,  they  still  convey  an  impression  of  unsurpassed 
beauty  and  perfection  of  art. 

The  subject  of  the  front  or  eastern  pediment*  was  the  birth 
of  Athena.  The  central  scene  had  gone  when  Carrey  sketched 
it.  It  is  probable  that  the  armed  figure  of  the  goddess  rising 
from  the  head  of  Zeus  would  fill  the  apex.  Close  by  would 
stand  the  goddess  of  childbirth  (Eilithuia),  and  Hephaestus, 
who  set  Athena  free  with  a  blow  of  his  hammer,  would  be  near 
the  centre.  In  the  angles  the  figures  have  been  better  pre- 
served, and  are  mostly  among  the  Elgin  Marbles.  Various 
interpretations  of  their  motive  have  been  suggested,  but  the 
only  one  that  deserves  consideration  is  Brunn's  theory  that 
they  are  scenic  impersonations  rather  than  mythological 
characters.  It  is  difficult,  as  Furtwangler  has  argued,  to 
find  any  other  example  of  this  sort  of  personification  in  the 
art  or  literature  of  the  fifth  century.  But  some  of  the  attri- 
butions are  too  plausible  to  be  avoided.  At  one  angle  the 
Sun  is  just  rising  in  his  chariot,  of  which  the  horses'  heads 
are  visible  above  the  cornice;  at  the  other  the  Moon  is 
just  sinking  in  hers.  That  depicts  the  time  of  the  great 
event.    Next  to  these  are  figures  to  indicate  locality.  Facing 

•  Plate  40. 

»5J 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

Helios,  with  his  back  to  the  central  scene,  is  that  glorious 
reclining  youth  who  used  to  be  called  "Theseus"  in  our 
Museum.  According  to  Brunn  he  is  really  Mount  Olympus. 
A  mountain  he  may  well  be,  but  would  not  Pheidias  have  meant 
him  for  the  Athenian  Mount  Hymettus?  At  the  other  side 
artists  have  sighed  over  the  perfection  of  those  three  seated 
female  figures,  headless,  alas !  but  wonderful  in  the  perfection 
of  craft  which  renders  the  elaborate  folds  of  the  soft  Ionic 
draperies  without  impairing  the  massive  grandeur  of  the 
bodies  beneath.  We  used  to  call  them  "The  Three  Fates." 
But  it  is  probable  that  they  are  not  a  group  of  three;  one 
reclines  in  the  lap  of  her  sister,  the  third  sits  alone.  If  the 
geographical  interpretation  is  to  hold  good,  we  cannot  improve 
Professor  Waldstein's  suggestion  that  the  sisterly  pair  is 
Thalassa  (Sea)  in  the  lap  of  Gaia  (Earth).  That,  however, 
leaves  us  without  a  clue  to  the  third.  Would  not  the  moon 
set  beyond  land  and  sea  over  the  island  of  Salamis  ?  Of  the 
remaining  figures  the  swiftly  moving  goddess  with  the  wind- 
swept draperies  can  be  none  other  than  Iris,  the  messenger 
of  the  gods. 

The  back  or  west  pediment  denotes  a  contest  always,  but 
here,  as  befits  Athena,  a  contest  moral  rather  than  physical,  the 
strife  between  Athena  and  Poseidon  for  the  tutelage  of  Athens. 
The  high  angle  in  the  centre  would  be  filled  with  the  olive- 
tree,  and  the  two  contestant  deities  may  be  seen  in  Carrey's 
drawing.  Poseidon  is  starting  back  in  affright  at  the  sight  of 
Athena's  gift,  and  she  is  advancing  triumphantly;  a  winged 
Victory  would  be  at  hand  to  place  the  crown  upon  her  head. 
The  only  considerable  relic  of  this  gable  is  another  nude  male 
form  in  the  British  Museum,  reclining  like  the  "  Theseus,"  but 
headless  and  armless,  the  "  Ilissus." 

Not  only  the  execution  of  the  figures,  but  the  composition 
of  the  two  scenes,  with  their  subtle  correspondences  and  dis- 
tinctions, their  intricate  rhythm  (notice  in  detail  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  drapery  folds  on  "The  Three  Fates"),  and  yet  their 
simple,  broad  dignity,  is  typical  of  what  the  fifth  century  was 
152 


THE  GRAND  CENTURY 

striving  for.  We  might  at  first  glance  take  the  almost  severe 
simplicity  of  fifth-century  art,  as  we  see  it,  for  example,  in  the 
dramas  of  Sophocles  or  the  history  of  Thucydides  or  the  lines 
of  Doric  architecture,  for  the  result  of  immaturity.  But  the 
more  we  study  these  things  the  more  we  find  to  study.  The 
apparent  simplicity  has  been  produced  with  infinite  labour  and 
loving  care. 

The  metopes  of  the  Parthenon,  originally  ninety-two  in 
number,  consist  of  separate  panels,  almost  square,  adorned  with 
figures  in  the  highest  possible  relief,  often  quite  free  from  the 
back  wall.  Each  one  represents  a  single  combat,  Gods  against 
Giants,  Lapithse  against  Centaurs,  Greeks  against  Amazons, 
Greeks  against  Trojans,  on  the  various  sides.  These  subjects, 
with  the  contests  of  Theseus  and  the  labours  of  Heracles,  are 
the  regular  themes  of  sculpture  on  Greek  temples.  They  all 
represented  to  the  Greek  mind  the  everlasting  moral  contest 
between  Hellenism  and  Barbarism,  or  between  culture  and 
savagery.  Heracles  destroying  monsters  like  the  Hydra  snake, 
Theseus  slaying  robbers  and  oppressors  of  mankind,  are  sym- 
bolical of  the  conflict  between  light  and  darkness.  They  also, 
no  doubt,  bear  historical  reference  to  the  Persian  wars.  The 
best  of  these  metope  sculptures  are  high  upon  the  walls  of  the 
Elgin  Room.  They  were  the  work  of  subordinate  artists,  and 
they  vary  greatly  in  excellence.  In  some  we  can  see  the  handi- 
work of  old  sculptors  trained  in  the  archaic  school  of  athletic 
sculpture,  still  making  their  drapery  stiff  and  mechanical.  In 
the  best  there  is  great  vigour  and  fine  drawing.  All  are  re- 
markable for  the  ingenuity  of  the  composition.  It  was  no  easy 
matter  to  fill  ninety-two  square  panels  with  struggling  figures 
without  monotony  or  iteration.  Nevertheless,  I  do  not  think 
that  the  Greek  artists  ever  took  much  pleasure  in  their  metope 
work. 

Lastly,  we  come  to  the  frieze.  To  judge  it  rightly,  the 
spectator  must  remember  its  position  on  the  temple,  for  its 
character  is  entirely  changed  when  it  is  seen  at  the  level  of  the 
eyes  on  the  walls  of  our  Museum.    It  ran  round  the  top  of 

153 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

the  cella  wall,  39  feet  above  the  floor,  inside  the  colonnade 
of  the  Parthenon.    It  could  be  examined  by  mounting  the 
stylobate  and  craning  your  neck  uncomfortably,  but  in  an 
ordinary  case  you  would  merely  catch  glimpses  of  it  between 
the  columns  as  you  passed  along  outside.    Moreover,  it  was  in 
the  shadow  of  the  roof,  lighted,  as  Professor  Gardner  reminds 
us,  from  below  by  reflection  from  the  white  marble  pavement. 
This  the  artist  has  foreseen  and  provided  for  by  making  the 
relief  of  the  upper  part  deeper  than  below,  so  that  the  heads  lean 
forward  from  the  panels.    Where  deep  shadows  are  required 
below  they  are  often  secured  by  cutting  into  the  background. 
Here  is  another  proof  of  the  advantage  Art  gains  when  her 
ministers  are  practical  craftsmen  rather  than  luxurious  gentle- 
men who  spend  their  time  between  the  studio  and  the  drawing- 
room.    The  designer  of  this  frieze — and  surely  the  designer  was 
no  less  than  the  master  himself — had  a  free  hand  here,  with  no 
laws  of  tradition  to  bind  him,  for  such  a  frieze  is  without 
previous  example.    He  had  to  cover  an  uninterrupted  space  of 
524  feet  with  ornament.    He  chose  for  his  subject  the  great 
procession  representing  the  people  of  Athens  which  went  up 
every  year  at  the  Panathenaic  festival  to  offer  a  new  saffron 
robe  to  the  goddess.    Observe  how  he  has  conceived  it.  Over 
the  front*  he  placed  the  immortal  gods  and  goddesses,  not  in 
the  awful  majesty  of  Olympus,  but  down  on  earth  in  their  be- 
loved city  of  Athens.    He  depicted  them  at  ease ;  only  their 
added  dignity  of  countenance  and  their  greater  stature  (their 
heads  reach  the  cornice,  though  they  are  seated)  indicates  their 
divinity.    They  are  not  overladen  with  attributive  emblems. 
They  are  at  home  in  Athens.    They  sit,  they  almost  lounge,  in 
comfortable  attitudes.  Dionysus  leans  on  the  shoulder  of  young 
Hermes.    Ares,  the  dreadful  Thracian  warrior,  has  left  his 
armour  at  home ;  he  rests  pleasantly  with  his  right  knee  clasped 
in  his  hands.    Hera  unveils  her  head,  turning  to  say  a  word  to 
her  royal  husband,  who  sits  a  little  apart  in  his  simple  dignity. 
Athena,  the  heroine  of  the  hour,  is  marked  by  no  pomp ;  she  is 

•  Plate  41. 

154 


Plate  44.   THE  LEMNIAN  ATHENA 
(See  p.  157) 


THE  GRAND  CENTURY 

conversing  in  friendly  fashion  with  Hephaestus.  Apollo  turns 
his  beautiful  head  to  say  a  word  to  the  grave  Poseidon.  Eros 
is  a  naked  human  boy  leaning  at  the  knee  of  Aphrodite;  she 
is  fully  draped,  and  even  veiled,  as  becomes  the  deity  of 
Heavenly  Love.  It  is  a  warm,  peaceful  day:  the  gods  have 
flung  back  their  tunics  from  their  shoulders,  the  goddesses  are 
clad  in  soft  Ionic  robes.  The  sculptor  has  not  chosen  to  repre- 
sent the  ceremony  at  its  crisis.  The  procession  is  on  its  way, 
the  music  can  be  heard  in  the  streets  below.  Close  by  Athena, 
separated  by  no  extra  space,  a  priest  is  handing  a  folded  gar- 
ment, the  old  peplos,  no  doubt,  to  a  lad.  It  cannot  be  the 
offering  of  the  new  one,  for  Athena  has  her  back  to  the  scene. 
Groups  of  grave  elders  converse  together,  leaning  on  their 
staves.  Attendant  maidens  stand  near  with  baskets  on  their 
heads.  This  eastern  end  shows  us  the  peace  and  happiness  of 
a  heaven  not  far  removed  from  earth  at  its  best. 

Turning  the  corners,  we  have  on  each  side  the  approaching 
procession,  advancing  towards  the  front  at  a  slow  pace.  As 
the  passing  visitor  glances  up  between  the  columns  the  pro- 
cession actually  moves.  First  come  the  young  men  leading 
the  sacrificial  beasts,  oxen  and  sheep,  with  attendants  bearing 
the  trays  and  water-jars.  The  flute-players  and  harpers  follow 
at  the  head  of  the  warriors,  the  war-chariots,  men  with  branches 
of  victory,  and  the  hoplites  with  shield  and  spear.  And  then, 
most  brilliant  of  all,  the  young  knights,*  scions  of  the  best 
families  of  Athens,  sitting  their  fiery  horses  barebacked  with 
charming  ease  and  grace,  some  wearing  the  broad  hat  and 
short  chlamys,  some  in  chitons,  some  with  mantles  flying  in 
the  wind,  some  in  armour.  Here  and  there  you  see  the 
marshals  ordering  the  procession.  Farther  back  it  is  just 
forming;  the  young  knights  are  mounting  their  horses  and 
attendants  are  holding  them  ready.  We  must  supply  to  the 
frieze  a  coloured  background  and  bronze  fittings  such  as  spears 
and  bridles. 

But  why  in  the  world  has  he  left  out  the  sacred  robe  itself? 

•  Plate  43. 

'55 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

Well,  he  might  have  chosen  to  put  Athena  on  her  throne  in 
full  panoply,  and  to  have  made  the  whole  scene  far  more 
devotional  and  impressive  to  the  religious  sense.  Instead,  he 
has  slackened  the  tension  everywhere.  The  soldiers  might 
have  marched  in  disciplined  ranks  of  Doric  precision.  The 
animals  might  have  walked  in  two  by  two,  as  well-behaved 
beasts  going  to  sacrifice  should.  The  whole  thing  might  have 
been  formal  and  grand.  Pheidias  preferred  to  make  it  charm 
by  its  simplicity  and  grace.  His  procession  glows  with  youth 
and  beauty,  modest  but  unembarrassed.  The  young  knight 
lacing  up  his  military  boot  is  quite  unconscious  that  you  and  I 
are  looking  at  him.  It  would  not  have  done  for  the  solemn 
pediments,  it  would  have  been  out  of  place  on  the  violent 
metopes,  but  here,  just  to  glance  at  between  the  pillars,  as  a 
piece  of  light,  supererogatory  ornament,  the  artist  felt  at  liberty 
to  express  the  joy  of  living. 

If  you  needed  to  look  upon  divinity  in  its  awful  grandeur, 
you  had  only  to  enter  the  shrine  and  worship  before  the  temple 
statue.  This  was  the  chryselephantine  Athena  Parthenos, 
39  feet  high,  with  ,£150,000  worth  of  refined  gold  upon  her 
raiment,  with  her  triple-crested  helmet,  her  shield  and  Victory, 
her  aegis  and  her  serpent.  Like  the  Olympian  Zeus,  she  was 
to  be  as  splendid  as  art  could  make  her;  there  was  colour  and 
ornament  everywhere.  I  do  not  suppose  that  even  here  she 
was  very  terribly  militant.  Loose  tresses  of  her  hair  escaped 
to  mitigate  the  ferocity  of  the  helmet,  with  its  fierce  sphinx  and 
monsters.  Her  pet  owl  was  perched  somewhere  on  her  helmet. 
The  "  Strangford  Shield  "  in  the  British  Museum  *  is  of  great 
interest,  because  it  seems  to  copy  the  design  of  the  original 
shield  with  some  fidelity,  and  it  belongs  to  an  interesting 
anecdote  told  about  the  sculptor.  In  432,  when  Pericles  was 
being  attacked  through  his  friends,  they  charged  Pheidias  with 
embezzling  some  of  the  gold  entrusted  to  him  for  this  statue, 
and  with  blasphemous  impropriety  in  putting  his  own  por- 
trait, together  with  the  portrait  of  Pericles,  on  the  goddess's 

•  Plate  43,  Fig.  1. 

J56 


Alinari 


Plate  45.    HEAD  OF  THE  LEMNIAN  ATHENA  [p.  156 

(See  p.  158) 


THE  GRAND  CENTURY 

shield.  The  first  charge  he  could  answer,  because  Pericles  had 
warned  him  to  make  all  the  gold  detachable  so  that  it  could  be 
weighed.  The  latter  bears  a  family  resemblance  to  the  whole 
class  of  sacristan's  tales  which  attach  to  every  artistic  monu- 
ment in  Europe.  There  was,  and  there  is,  on  the  shield  an  old 
man's  head  which  looks  so  realistic  that  it  might  be  a  portrait. 
Near  him  there  is  a  warrior  with  his  arm  across  his  face,  and 
that  is  said  to  have  been  the  artist's  device  for  concealing  from 
common  view  a  speaking  likeness  of  Pericles.  Nevertheless 
Pheidias  was  condemned  by  the  angry  people,  as  Aristophanes, 
his  contemporary,  tells  us : 

"Pheidias  began  the  mischief,  he  was  first  to  come  to 
grief." 

Few  other  details  of  the  sculptor's  life  are  worth  repeating. 
Many  are  given,  but  their  contradictions  involve  us  in  hopeless 
difficulties.  Neither  portraits  nor  biographies  belong  to  the 
fifth  century,  so  wholly  was  the  individual  merged  in  the 
community.  Later  centuries  had  to  provide  them,  and  invent 
them. 

The  number  of  works  credibly  assigned  to  Pheidias  amounts 
to  twenty-four.  He  was  specially  famed  for  his  divine  statues. 
He  was  able  to  practise  for  his  chryselephantine  work  on  what 
is  termed  an  acrolithic  image — that  is,  of  gilt  wood  and  marble 
— for  little  Plataea.  He  worked  also  in  bronze.  At  Olympiahe 
made  a  statue  of  the  boy  victor  Pantarkes,  whom  he  loved. 
For  the  Athenian  Acropolis  he  made  two  other  statues  of 
Athena,  one  the  colossal  bronze  figure  which  faced  the  visitor 
as  he  passed  through  the  Propylaea  on  to  the  sacred  citadel. 
Her  spear  was  visible  above  the  roofs  to  the  sailors  at  sea,  and 
it  is  so  represented  on  the  coins  of  the  city.  It  was  a  work  of 
his  early  years,  executed  for  Kimon.  It  was  removed  to  Con- 
stantinople, and  the  historian  Nicetas  tells  us  of  its  destruction 
by  a  drunken  mob  in  a.d.  1203.  There  was  also  the  Lemnian 
Athena,*  dedicated  by  the  colonists  of  that  island  about  450  B.C. 
Here  she  was  represented  in  a  peaceful  aspect  without  her 

•  Plate  44. 

*  57 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
helmet,  "  with  a  blush  upon  her  cheek  instead  of  a  helmet 
to  veil  her  beauty."  The  statue  which  Furtwangler  has 
compiled  by  setting  a  head  from  Bologna  *  upon  a  body 
at  Dresden  forms  an  ingenious  and  possibly  correct  repro- 
duction of  this  statue.  Of  course  it  is  only  a  copy.  If  it  be 
true  that  Pheidias  made  dedicatory  offerings  for  the  Athenians 
at  Delphi  immediately  after  the  Persian  wars  he  must  have 
had  an  artistic  career  of  fifty  years.  In  that  time  he  had 
brought  the  art  of  sculpture  from  infancy  to  the  prime  of 
manhood. 

ICTINUS  AND  THE  TEMPLE-BUILDERS 

One  of  the  characteristics  of  Greek  art  is  the  subordination 
of  the  artist  to  his  work,  as  of  the  art  itself  to  its  purpose. 
This  is  but  a  part  of  the  general  subordination  of  the  individual 
to  society  in  Greek  life.  Hence  it  follows  that  we  seldom  have 
to  think  of  isolated  genius,  and  never  of  the  genius  of  Greek 
artists  as  of  some  fitful  and  inexplicable  freak  of  nature.  For 
this  reason  it  is  not  as  incredible  that  there  should  have  been 
several  different  Homers  all  men  of  genius  as  that  two  Vergils 
should  have  arisen  at  Rome,  or  two  Shakespeares  in  England. 
Sappho  is  one  among  a  group  of  superlative  lyric  poets. 
Sophocles  is  one  of  four.  Demosthenes  is  the  greatest  of  a 
group  of  great  orators.  This  remains  a  remarkable  fact,  in 
view  of  the  natural  tendency  of  time  to  sharpen  the  outline  of 
peaks  in  the  ranges  of  culture,  and  the  national  tendency  of 
the  Greeks  to  personify  all  processes  and  movements. 

Great  as  Pheidias  is,  he  is  nevertheless  surrounded  by  a 
circle  of  sculptors  and  architects,  engravers  and  painters,  who 
are  all  great.  In  execution  they  may  be  ranked  in  grades  of 
ability,  and  their  individualities  are  clearly  discernible,  but 
they  are  all  inspired  by  the  same  nobility  of  artistic  character, 
so  that  the  spirit  of  fifth-century  art  is  a  thing  that  the  eye 
can  easily  perceive.  Reserve  and  dignity  are  its  most  pro- 
minent characteristics.     It  shares  with  all  Greek  art  the 

*  Plate  45. 

158 


ttattnU  &■  Co. 


PLATE  46.   STATUE  OF  MARSYAS.   AFTER  MYKON 
(Seep.  159)  [/.  158 


THE  GRAND  CENTURY 
qualities  of  grace  and  directness,  by  which  we  mean  a  vivid 
and  logical  intelligence  which  knows  its  aim  and  pursues  it 
unswervingly. 

Pheidias  had  Myron  for  a  fellow-student.  Of  Myron's 
athletic  work  I  have  already  spoken.  He  was  as  original 
as  it  was  possible  to  be  in  the  fifth  century.  As  he  was 
chiefly  engaged  in  minor  works  of  a  private  and  occasional 
nature,  he  has  naturally  caught  the  attention  of  the  epigram- 
matists. We  hear  much  of  the  animal  statues  he  carved  and 
of  their  extraordinary  realism,  for  that  was  the  thing  that 
appealed  to  the  ancient  art  critic.  Myron  seems  to  have  been 
a  master  of  bronze  technique  and  a  skilful  goldsmith.  The 
marble  copy  of  his  Marsyas  in  the  Lateran  and  the  bronze  in 
the  British  Museum  *  show  the  satyr  advancing  in  amazement  to 
pick  up  the  flute  which  Apollo  has  just  discarded.  As  in  the 
"  Discobolus,"  we  see  the  love  of  distorted  poses  which  enabled 
Myron  to  exhibit  his  fine  draughtsmanship  and  anatomy. 
Herein,  indeed,  he  is  peu  cinquieme  Steele;  but  we  must  re- 
member that  this  figure  is  one  of  a  dramatic  group.  I  have 
spoken  of  Polycleitus  too  as  an  athletic  sculptor.  It  is  rather  re- 
markable that  this  youthful  art  should  already  in  the  fifth  century 
be  producing  its  "  Canon  "  and  its  technical  treatises.  Though 
the  "  Doryphorus  "  is  the  most  famous  of  his  works,  the  head 
of  his  "Diadumenus"  from  Rome  is  probably  the  most 
faithful  rendering  of  a  Polycleitan  original.  Other  names  are 
mentioned  by  ancient  writers  as  being  worthy  to  be  classed 
with  Pheidias ;  Calamis,  for  example ;  but  they  are  mere  names 
to  us,  and  the  ingenious  attempts  of  modern  archaeology  to  fit 
them  with  appropriate  works  on  the  score  of  qualities  attributed 
to  them  by  ancient  critics  are  hazardous,  and  for  the  most  part 
unsatisfactory.  Considering  the  few  facts  so  recorded  and  the 
multitude  of  difficulties  they  raise,  we  cannot  put  much  faith  in 
the  ancient  art  critic.  Alcamenes  and  Paeonius,  for  example, 
are  said  to  have  been  the  sculptors  of  the  two  pediments  at 
Olympia,  and  yet  Alcamenes  is  described  as  a  pupil  of  Pheidias, 

•  Plate  46. 

159 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
which  to  any  one  comparing  the  Apollo  of  the  west  pediment 
with  the  pedimental  sculptures  of  the  Parthenon  is  absurd.  The 
other  name  is  also  doubtful,  for  Paeonius  was  the  author  of  the 
famous  Victory  at  Olympia,*  with  its  superb  study  of  flying 
drapery.  The  inscription  testifies  that  it  was  set  up  by  the 
Messenians  of  Naupactus  from  the  spoil  of  the  enemy — pre- 
sumably the  Spartan  garrison  captured  by  Cleon  at  Sphacteria. 
If,  therefore,  Pausanias  is  right  in  his  account  of  the  author- 
ship of  the  Olympian  pediments,  both  these  sculptors  must 
have  made  extraordinarily  rapid  progress  in  their  art  or  have 
adopted  a  consciously  archaic  style  for  the  pediments. 

So  much  for  the  named  sculptors  of  the  period.  We  have 
several  other  works  which  obviously  belong  to  the  same 
date.  The  fine  portrait  bust  of  Pericles  f  is,  no  doubt,  a  copy 
from  the  statue  by  Cresilas.  I  have  said  above  that  portraiture 
is  rare  in  the  fifth  century.  The  extraordinary  significance  of 
Pericles  in  the  art  of  the  period  is  one  reason  for  this  exception. 
Moreover,  it  is,  after  all,  scarcely  a  portrait  in  the  Cromwellian 
sense,  but  rather  an  idealised  type  of  the  soldier  statesman : 
so  far  from  breaking,  it  notably  illustrates  the  rule  of  idealism 
in  the  fifth  century.  It  was  said  that  all  the  portraits  of 
Pericles  represented  him  in  a  helmet  to  conceal  his  inordinately 
long  head,  which  is  a  frequent  subject  of  wit  to  Aristophanes. 
Typical  of  the  period  too  are  the  Eleusinian  relief,!  the 
Ludovisi  reliefs,  §  and  the  Mourning  Athena.  ||  The  glorious 
bronze  bust  of  a  Boy  Victor  depicted  in  our  illustration  **  is 
one  of  the  rare  original  bronzes  of  the  great  period.  It  is  part 
of  a  full-length  statue,  the  bust  being  a  modern  restoration, 
and  it  is  of  great  value  to  students  of  ancient  bronze  workman- 
ship. The  eyeballs,  when  the  statue  was  first  found  at  Naples 
in  1730,  were  inlaid  with  silver  and  the  pupils  with  granite. 
The  lips  are  gilded,  and  there  was  silver  and  gold  on  the 
diadem.  The  boy  pulling  a  thorn  out  of  his  foot  (the  "  Spi- 
nario  ")  belongs  to  a  slightly  earlier  period  and  is  closely  akin 

*  Plate  47,  Fig.  1.  f  PIate  38-  \  Plate  25. 

§  Plates  31  and  32.  ||  Plate  59.  **  Plate  46a. 

160 


THE  GRAND  CENTURY 
to  the  Running  Girl  in  style.  It  is  a  charmingly  graceful 
and  boyish  figure,  quite  free  from  self-consciousness.  We 
notice  that  though  the  body  is  skilfully  wrought,  the  head 
is  obviously  wrong,  for  the  long  hair  of  the  bent  head  would 
hang  about  his  face.*  Natural  and  pleasant  as  the  pose  is,  it  is 
no  mere  genre  study,  done  to  please  the  artist's  fancy  because 
his  eye  had  caught  the  pretty  attitude  of  the  child  in  the 
gymnasium.  That  was  not  how  artists  worked  at  this  early 
period.  The  "Spinario"  must,  I  think,  have  a  story  behind 
him  :  some  one  had  won  the  boys'  foot-race  in  spite  of  a  thorn 
in  his  foot,  and  this  is  the  record  of  his  pluck. 

From  sculpture  we  pass  to  the  sister  art  of  architecture. 
Here  we  can  safely  affirm  that  Periclean  Athens  reached 
perfection  within  the  limits  it  had  set  for  itself — namely,  the 
Doric  style.  For  temple  architecture  the  religious  feeling  of 
the  day  had  prescribed  a  definite  programme  which  it  would 
have  been  almost  blasphemy  to  outstep.  That  is  to  say,  the 
outline  of  the  temple  was  bound  to  correspond  to  the  norm  of 
Doric  architecture,  laid  down  more  than  a  century  before. 
The  artist's  originality  was  therefore  confined  to  the  task  of 
improving  its  details  in  a  manner  which  would  pass  unnoticed 
by  the  general  public,  who  would  but  vaguely  feel  a  heightened 
sense  of  rhythm  and  harmony.  Here  we  find  proof  that  Gr< 
simplicity  is  the  outcome  of  extreme  subtlety.  Until  Penrose 
every  one  had  imagined  the  lines  of  the  Parthenon  to  be  straight. 
On  the  contrary,  the  apparently  flat  stylobate  or  floor  rises 
i  in  450  towards  the  centre  over  a  length  of  228  and  a 
breadth  of  101  feet.  The  columns  do  not  only  taper,  as  they 
seem  to  do,  but  they  swell  in  the  middle  in  order  to  coun- 
teract the  diminishing  effect  of  light  behind  them,  although 
in  pure  Greek  work  the  diameter  of  the  shaft  is  never  greater 
than  that  of  the  base.  The  axis  of  the  outside  columns 
slopes  inwards  1  in  106;  the  inner  columns  have  a  slightly 
smaller  inclination,  1  in  150.  Even  the  fluting  is  studied; 
the  fine  shadow  effect  is  produced  by  diminishing  the  width 

•  Plate  47,  Fig.  a 

L  161 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
but  not  the  depth  of  the  grooves  as  they  approach  the  echinus. 
Nor  are  the  columns  all  exactly  the  same  thickness,  for  the 
corner  pillars  are  made  a  little  higher  and  thicker  than  their 
neighbours,  because  a  fiercer  light  beats  on  them.  Like  the 
stylobate,  the  entablature  also  curves  upward  in  the  centre, 
but  still  more  slightly — 2  inches  in  100  feet.  The  planes  of 
the  moulding  are  sometimes  inclined  forwards  to  prevent  fore- 
shortening. Thus  to  secure  the  effect  of  straightness  Ictinus 
cut  every  stone  of  this  great  building  on  a  slant  measured  to  a 
hair's  breadth.  To  my  lay  mind  these  facts  throw  a  revealing 
light  upon  the  nature  of  Greek  art  and  the  true  meaning  of 
Greek  simplicity.  Judge  of  the  self-restraint  shown  by  Ictinus 
(and  of  course  entasis  is  not  confined  to  the  Parthenon)  in 
expending  this  infinite  trouble  in  a  matter  which  would  escape 
the  eye  of  nine  out  of  ten  spectators.  Nine  out  of  ten  ?  Yes, 
but  the  tenth  might  be  a  brother  architect— or  it  might  be 
Pallas  Athena.  Now  that  the  measuring-tape  has  proved  how 
subtle  is  Greek  simplicity  in  one  art,  we  must  be  prepared  for 
it  in  other  arts  where  we  cannot  measure  so  accurately — in 
literature,  for  example,  when  Euripides  seems  commonplace  or 
Socrates  illogical. 

While  the  white  marble  columns  and  the  white  marble  roof 
presented  this  appearance  of  simple  strength  and  purity,  the 
decorative  mouldings  between  were  enriched  not  only  with  the 
sculpture  we  have  described,  but  with  brilliant  colour.  The 
background  behind  the  sculpture  of  the  pediment  was  red,  the 
ground  of  the  metopes  probably  red,  and  that  of  the  frieze  prob- 
ably blue.  The  simple  echinus  and  abacus  mouldings  of  the 
capitals  were  enriched  with  leaf  patterns  in  red,  blue,  and  gold. 
The  architrave  has  holes  which  once  held  bronze  pegs  for  a 
row  of  gilt  shields  and  wreaths.  The  grooves  of  the  triglyphs 
were  painted  blue.  A  bright  key-pattern  ran  along  the  upper 
edge  of  the  triglyph.  The  guttae,  or  "  drops,"  were  probably 
gilt.  On  each  corner  of  the  roof-angle  stood  a  golden  oil- 
iar,  and  at  the  apex  of  the  gable  an  acroterion  carved  and 
coloured. 
162 


THE  GRAND  CENTURY 
Inside  the  colonnade  is  the  cella,  194  feet  long,  with 
six  columns  of  its  own  within  the  peristyle  at  each  end.  The 
interior  was  divided  into  two  main  parts — the  Hekatom- 
pedos,  exactly  100  Attic  feet  in  length,  where  the  great  gold 
and  ivory  statue  stood  in  solitary  grandeur,  with  a  couch 
near  at  hand  for  the  goddess  to  recline  on  when  she  was  tired ; 
and  the  Opisthodomos,  to  the  west  of  it,  strictly  called  the 
Parthenon,  which  was  a  sort  of  museum  or  bank  for 
handsome  offerings.  The  interior  seems  to  have  been  lighted 
only  from  the  doors.  Ionic  columns  were  used  to  carry  the 
ceiling  of  the  Parthenon  proper.  The  wooden  ceiling  itself  was 
adorned  with  sunken  panels  brightly  painted.  Battered  and 
decayed  as  this  marble  building  is  to-day  after  its  centuries  of 
use  as  a  temple,  as  a  church,  as  a  mosque,  as  a  powder  maga- 
zine, and  as  an  archaeological  bear-garden,  it  is  still  most 
wonderful  in  its  majesty.*  We  can  hardly  imagine  the  impres- 
sion it  produced  when  it  glowed  with  life  and  colour  on  the 
day  of  the  Panathenaic  festival  in  438  B.C.,  when  it  was  opened 
to  the  public  after  fifteen  years  of  building.  The  sculpture 
seems  to  have  been  applied  after  the  opening  of  the  temple. 

Let  us  glance  at  the  principal  buildings  beside  the  Parthenon 
which  crowned  the  flat-topped  citadel.  I  suspect  that  most 
modern  spectators  feel  a  secret  sense  of  discontent  when  they 
see  a  reconstruction  of  the  Acropolis.f  The  unregenerate  Goth 
in  our  bosoms  cries  out  for  spires  and  pinnacles  upon  such  a 
splendid  site,  for  domes  and  towers  and  battlements  to  fret  the 
sky  above  it.  Would  any  relics  of  them  have  stood  for 
twenty-three  centuries  in  that  land  of  earthquakes  ? 

When  the  Long  Walls  of  Athens  were  completed  there  was 
no  longer  any  need  of  fortifications  to  the  Acropolis,  though  the 
architectural  conception  of  the  whole  mass  remained  that  of  a 
shrine  and  citadel  combined.  The  prehistoric  Pelasgians  had 
levelled  the  top,  fortified  it  on  the  west,  its  only  accessible 
end,  and  surrounded  it  with  a  wall.  The  whole  plateau  rises 
to  a  height  of  200  feet.    Approaching  it  from  the  agora  to  the 

•  Hate  48.  f  Plate  43,  Fig.  2. 

163 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
west,  the  pilgrim  passes  up  a  flight  of  low  steps  to  the  porch,  or 
propylaea.  This  was  completed  in  432  by  Mnesicles  on  the 
site  of  an  older  and  much  humbler  gateway  of  Kimon's  day, 
Modern  investigators  have  shown  that  it  was  planned  on  a  far 
more  extensive  scale  than  the  actual  execution,  and  that  room 
was  left  for  subsequent  completion.  It  is  believed  that  the 
outbreak  of  the  Peloponnesian  War  was  the  cause  of  this  limi- 
tation of  the  original  scheme.  Even  so  it  was  celebrated  in 
antiquity,  and  is  far  the  most  impressive  building  erected  by 
the  Greeks  for  secular  purposes.  It  consists  of  a  gateway 
formed  by  a  wall  with  five  openings  and  fronted  by  a  Doric 
colonnade,  with  gable  roof  and  pediment,  flanked  on  each  side 
in  the  original  plan  by  two  colonnaded  halls,  a  smaller  one  in 
front  and  a  larger  behind.  This  plan  is  clearly  a  development 
of  the  gateways  of  prehistoric  citadels  like  Tiryns  and  Troy  II. 
One  of  the  wing  chambers  was  used  as  a  picture  gallery,  the 
walls  being  frescoed  by  Polygnotus  and  other  celebrated 
painters.  This  hall  is  still  in  excellent  preservation,  due  to  its 
use  by  the  Franks  as  a  council  chamber  and  by  the  Turks  as 
the  palace  of  their  pashas.  Some  of  the  stone  beams  are  as 
long  as  20  feet. 

The  front  chamber  of  each  wing  rested  on  an  artificial  stone 
bastion,  and  \  as  that  on  the  south  was  never  completed  the 
platform  remained  free  for  the  erection  of  a  lovely  miniature 
shrine,  the  temple  of  the  Wingless  Victory.*  This,  though  its 
stones  were  totally  scattered  and  built  into  a  Turkish  bastion, 
was  reconstructed  in  1835  by  European  architects  with  such 
success  that  it  is  one  of  the  most  charming  things  in  Athens. 
It  must  have  been  built  soon  after  the  abandonment  of  the 
original  plan  for  the  propylaea.  It  has  four  columns  of  the 
Ionic  order  at  each  end,  surmounted  with  a  sculptured  frieze, 
of  which  four  panels  are  in  the  Elgin  collection.  The  whole 
shrine,  which  is  only  18  feet  by  27  feet,  was  surrounded 
by  a  railing  supported  on  a  marble  balustrade  carved  with 
Victories  in  low  relief.     Though  they  are  mostly  headless, 

•  Plate  49,  Fig.  1. 

164 


THE  GRAND  CENTURY 
the  outlines  are  in  a  good  state  and  reveal  very  fine  work- 
manship, especially  in  the  treatment  of  drapery.  They  clearly 
belong  to  the  next  period  after  the  Parthenon  frieze.  From 
the  platform  in  front  of  the  shrine  there  is  a  lovely  view  over 
the  Attic  plain  towards  Eleusis.  Beyond  it,  over  Salamis 
and  the  blue  Saronic  gulf  you  can  see  the  citadel  of  Corinth 
and  the  distant  mountains  of  the  Argolid  and  the  Peloponnese. 
It  was  here  that  old  .^Egeus  stood  watching  for  the  sails  of  his 
dear  son  from  Crete. 

Pass  through  the  wide  portals  of  the  propylaea.  On  your 
right  was  the  marble  terrace  where  the  little  girls  of  Athens 
dressed  up  as  bears  to  dance  in  honour  of  Brauronian  Artemis. 
Here  was  the  group  of  Athena  and  Marsyas,  and  here  Praxiteles 
was  to  make  his  statue  of  Brauronian  Artemis.  Beyond  the 
Brauronian  precinct  was  one  of  Athena  the  Craftswoman.  At 
this  point  the  colossal  bronze  Athena"  Promachos  "  of  Pheidias 
towered  above  you,  36  feet  high.  We  have  visited  the  Par- 
thenon already;  to  the  left  of  it,  just  behind  the  foundations 
of  the  old  temple  of  Athena  Polias,  is  the  wonderful  Erechtheum. 
This  building,  though  begun  soon  after  the  Persians  had  burnt 
the  old  "house  of  Erechtheus,"  and  the  adjoining  temple  of 
Athena  built  by  Peisistratus,  was  delayed  by  the  Peloponnesian 
War,  and  not  completed  till  the  end  of  the  century.  Here  the 
task  set  to  the  architects  was  a  peculiar  one.  To  begin  with 
the  building  was  not  a  temple,  but  a  house — the  house  of  an 
old  Pelasgian  hero;  obviously  it  must  not  be  of  the  Doric 
order.  Also  it  had  to  include  a  number  of  immovable 
sacred  objects,  such  as  the  salt  spring  which  gushed  up  when 
Poseidon  struck  the  rock  with  his  trident  and  the  sacred  olive, 
tree  with  which  Athena  defeated  him.  This  patriotic  tree  had 
sprung  up  into  new  life  after  the  Persians  destroyed  it,  and  had 
to  be  treated  kindly.  The  illustration  will  show  how  the 
architect  overcame  these  problems  with  an  unconventional 
building  of  extraordinary  grace  and  charm.  The  main  build- 
ing has  a  colonnade  of  six  Ionic  columns  in  front,  and  a  north 
porch  of  six  Ionic  columns  projecting  from  one  side;  at 

165 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

the  west  end  a  precinct  of  Pandrosos  (daughter  of  Cecrops), 
enclosing  the  sacred  olive-tree,  adjoined  it,  and  on  the  south 
side  the  lovely  little  portico  of  the  Maidens.*  This  is  its  most 
celebrated  feature,  from  the  figures  of  the  six  Athenian  girls 
who  carry  the  graceful  Ionic  entablature.  One  of  the  Caryatids 
was  taken  to  London  by  Lord  Elgin,  and  has  been  replaced  by 
a  terra-cotta  copy.    The  capitals  on  their  heads  are  designed 


The  Erechtheum  :  Modern  Reconstruction 


like  baskets.  I  have  already  spoken  of  this  use  of  sculpture 
for  columns  in  connection  with  the  Telamones  of  Acragas. 
The  name  Caryatids  given  to  these  figures  in  later  times  was 
derived  from  the  town  of  Karuse,  in  Arcadia. 

Besides  the  objects  already  mentioned,  the  Erechtheum  con- 
tained a  number  of  very  ancient  relics.  There  you  were  shown 
the  marks  of  Poseidon's  trident  on  the  rock ;  there  were  spoils 
taken  from  the  Persians ;  an  old  wooden  Hermes  dedicated  by 
Cecrops,  a  chariot  by  Daedalus,  a  lamp  by  Callimachus  kept 
perpetually  burning,  and  above  all  the  ancient  wooden  image  of 
Athena  Polias. 

Dorpfeld  maintains  that  the  old  temple  of  Athena  Polias 
was  left  standing  even  after  the  Erechtheum  was  completed. 
If  that  were  true  we  should  have  to  believe  that  the  architect 
deliberately  projected  his  unnecessary  Caryatid  porch  right  into 

•  Plate  49,  Fig.  2 

1 66 


FIG.  2.    THE  CARYATID  PORCH  Of  THE  ERKCHTHRUU  (See  p.  166) 

Plate  49  [/.  166 


THE  GRAND  CENTURY 
the  blank  wall  of  the  older  temple,  where  it  could  not  be  seen 
and  could  scarcely  be  passed,  for  it  encroaches  right  over  the 
stylobate  of  the  old  colonnade. 

I  have  only  mentioned  some  of  the  wonderful  objects  on  the 
sacred  rock.  When  Pausanias  saw  it,  it  was  crowded  from 
end  to  end  with  works  of  art,  sacred  or  commemorative.  No 
profane  person  inhabited  it. 

It  was  to  the  Acropolis  that  the  attention  of  Pericles  and 
his  artists  was  first  directed  when  the  time  came  to  beautify 
Athens.  In  the  city  below  you  would  be  struck  with  the 
plainness  of  the  private  houses,  presenting  no  decorative  aspect 
whatever  to  the  narrow  and  tortuous  streets.  They  were  all  of 
one  story,  with  a  roof  sloping  inwards  to  an  open  colonnade, 
round  which  the  rooms  were  grouped.  The  agora  was  the 
centre  of  commercial  and  social  life.  Close  by  were  some 
famous  porticoes  or  cloisters,  shady  and  cool  to  lounge  in.  In 
the  Royal  Portico  the  "king  archon"  sat  to  do  his  business, 
mostly  connected  with  religion.  Here  the  Council  of  the 
Areopagus  met  in  later  days.  Here  Socrates  conversed,  and 
here  he  was  tried  for  impiety.  Ancient  laws  were  inscribed 
upon  the  walls  of  it.  The  Portico  of  Freedom  contained 
statues  and  celebrated  frescoes  painted  by  Euphranor  in  the 
fourth  century.  The  Decorated  Portico  (Stoa  Poikilc)  in  the 
agora  was  even  more  famous  for  its  historical  and  mythological 
pictures,  including  one  of  the  battle  of  Marathon  by  Panainos, 
and  one  by  the  master  Polygnotus  of  the  taking  of  Troy.  It 
was  in  this  Stoa  that  Zeno  developed  in  later  times  his  Stoic 
philosophy.  All  these  pictures  have  perished  utterly,  but  we 
can  still  see  reflections  of  them  in  the  vase-paintings  of  the  day. 

Close  by  upon  a  low  hill  stands  a  Doric  temple  of  the  fifth 
century  in  almost  perfect  preservation.  This  is  commonly 
called  the  Theseum,  but  it  is  undoubtedly  the  temple  of 
Hephaestus  mentioned  by  Pausanias.*  The  temple  is  of 
Pentelic  marble,  surrounded  on  all  sides  by  columns,  with 
six  at  each  end.     It  is  of  a  slightly  earlier  date  than  the 

•  Plate  50. 

167 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
Parthenon,  and  it  has  very  little  of  the  subtle  system 
of  optical  corrections  employed  there.  It  was  not  a  very 
important  building  in  ancient  Athens;  in  fact,  it  is  scarcely 
mentioned  in  antiquity ;  but  as  the  best-preserved  building  in  all 
Greece  it  is  of  great  architectural  interest  to  us.  The  metopes 
were  not  all  carved ;  the  rest  were  probably  painted.  There  is 
also  a  sculptured  frieze.  The  subject  of  the  metopes  was  the 
Labours  of  Heracles  and  Theseus.  They  are  rather  badly 
weathered,  and  in  their  present  condition  not  very  attractive. 
Not  far  away  is  the  Dipylon  Gate,  with  its  ancient  burial-ground, 
of  which  we  shall  see  more  in  a  later  section.  At  the  opposite 
end  of  the  city  the  visitor  in  the  fifth  century  B.C.  would  have 
been  struck  by  the  immense  columns  of  the  temple  of  Olympian 
Zeus  begun  by  Peisistratus,  but  never  finished.  Close  under 
the  Acropolis  rock  was  the  Theatre  of  Dionysus,  where  the 
tragedies  and  comedies  were  performed,  and  a  music  hall,  or 
Odeion,  erected  by  Pericles.  There  was  a  Cave  of  Pan  on  the 
precipitous  slope  of  the  rock.  The  public  meetings  of  the 
Athenian  Assembly  were  held  on  the  hill  of  Pnyx,  to  the  west 
of  the  Acropolis.  Here  there  was  a  sort  of  open-air  theatre. 
We  can  still  see  the  platform  where  Pericles  addressed  the 
people,  and  the  seats  for  the  presiding  committee  behind  it. 

So  entirely  does  Athens  focus  upon  herself  the  culture  of 
the  fifth  century,  we  are  apt  to  forget  that  Athens  was  not 
Greece.  The  Temple  of  Zeus  at  Olympia  was  the  most  cele- 
brated temple  in  all  Greece,  but  chiefly  for  the  wealth  of  the 
dedications  there  and  the  number  of  athletic  statues.  Delphi 
too  was  enriched  with  countless  artistic  offerings  sent,  in  spite 
of  the  Pythian's  faint-hearted  counsels,  from  the  spoil  of  the 
war.  There  was  a  famous  tripod  with  a  stand  of  twisted 
serpents,  on  whose  coils  were  inscribed  the  names  of  those  cities 
which  had  taken  part  in  the  battle  of  Plataea.  A  forlorn 
remnant  of  it  still  exists  at  Constantinople.  Both  Olympia 
and  Delphi  have  been  recently  excavated,  the  former  by  the 
Germans  and  the  latter  by  the  French.  But  neither  site  has 
quite  realised  expectations.  The  greatest  finds  at  Olympia 
1 68 


THE  GRAND  CENTURY 

were  the  Hermes  of  Praxiteles,  which  belongs  to  the  next  epoch, 
and  the  temple  pediments  which  I  have  already  mentioned. 
At  Delphi  the  long-robed  charioteer,  one  of  the  noblest  fifth- 
century  bronzes,  was  the  most  conspicuous  treasure,  but  one 
very  fine  athletic  statue  is  worthy  of  mention.  This  is  the 
Agias,  an  athletic  portrait  in  marble,  executed  by  Lysippus, 
fourth  of  the  great  masters  of  Greek  sculpture.*  Traces  were 
found  of  a  great  number  of  small  shrines  which  acted  as  the 
treasuries  of  the  various  states  and  were  grouped  round  the 
great  temple  of  Apollo,  and  some  of  these,  notably  the  Cnidian, 
Siphnian,  and  Athenian  treasuries,  have  yielded  important 
relics  of  sculpture.  The  holy  precinct  was  crowded  with 
treasuries,  shrines,  votive  groups,  and  colonnades.  It  included 
a  theatre,  a  circular  dancing-floor,  and  a  colossal  statue  of 
Apollo.  The  Altis  at  Olympia  was  similarly  filled  with 
treasuries;  round  it  just  outside  were  the  stadium,  the  hippo- 
drome, the  palaestra,  and  the  gymnasium. 

Hidden  away  in  a  remote  mountain  glen  of  Arcadia  there 
was  a  masterpiece  of  Ictinus,  which  is  now  a  lovely  ruin  amid 
the  most  solitary  and  romantic  scenery.  This  is  the  temple 
of  Phigaleia,  the  modern  Bassse.f  It  was  dedicated  by  the 
Phigaleians  to  Apollo  the  Helper  in  consequence  of  an  epidemic. 
They  sent  for  the  most  famous  architect  in  Greece  soon  after 
the  completion  of  the  Parthenon.  Ictinus  used,  since  his 
clients  were  poor  mountaineers,  the  local  limestone  for  the 
building,  but  the  roof  and  sculptures  were  of  imported  marble. 
He  had  also  to  modify  the  normal  Doric  plan  in  accordance 
with  local  religious  conventions  of  sun-worship.  In  the  cella 
of  the  temple  the  interior  Ionic  columns  are  joined  to  the  wall 
by  short  stone  partitions,  thus  forming  a  row  of  five  chapels  on 
each  side.  A  door  was  made  in  the  east  side  to  shed  the 
light  of  the  rising  sun  full  on  the  statue  of  the  sun-god;  for 
the  main  building  is  unique  among  Greek  temples  in  running 
north  and  south.  The  narrow  frieze  which  ran  round  the 
interior  of  the  cella  represented,  as  usual,  contests  of  Greeks 

•  Plate  51.  t  P^te  52. 

109 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

and  Amazons,  Centaurs  and  Lapithae.*  It  is  now  in  the  British 
Museum.  It  is  of  the  very  finest  workmanship,  and  here  we 
see  a  system  of  design  hardly  less  subtle  than  that  of  the 
Parthenon  frieze  applied  to  scenes  of  vigour  and  violence. 
The  frieze  was  removed  bodily  by  Baron  von  Stackelberg  and 
bought  at  auction  by  the  British  Government  for  ;£  15,000. 

We  find  another  example  of  the  versatile  genius  of  Ictinus 
at  Eleusis.  Eleusis  was  the  most  important  town  of  Attica 
except  Athens,  and  had  long  been  independent.  It  formed  an 
agricultural  centre  for  the  plain  around  it.  Its  famous  mysteries 
were  of  agricultural  significance  to  start  with,  and  were  chiefly 
concerned  with  the  worship  of  Demeter  and  Persephone  in 
their  characters  as  grain-givers.  It  was  no  doubt  a  later 
development  when  the  Greeks  began  to  graft  the  deepest 
religious  and  metaphysical  doctrines  relating  to  immortality 
upon  them.  We  can  easily  see  how  rustic  rites  celebrating  the 
death  and  rebirth  of  the  cornfields  should  come  to  bear  this 
exalted  meaning  for  reflective  people.  Every  year  on  the  fifth 
night  of  the  Greater  Eleusinian  festival  in  spring  the  Athenian 
people  trooped  out  along  the  Sacred  Way  in  a  torchlight 
procession.  Only  the  initiated,  the  Mystae,  were  allowed  to 
witness  the  secret  ceremony,  which  seems  to  have  consisted  of 
a  ritual  marriage.  For  most  illuminating  suggestions  as  to  its 
real  nature  I  would  refer  the  reader  to  Mr.  J.  C.  Lawson's 
recent  book  on  "  Modern  Greek  Folklore  and  Ancient  Greek 
Religion." 

The  Great  Temple  of  the  Mysteries  was  designed,  but  not 
completed,  by  Ictinus,  for  the  Peloponnesian  War  put  a  stop 
to  the  Eleusinian  worshippers  from  Athens — not  the  least  of 
their  deprivations.  But  the  Mysteries  were  resumed  when 
Alcibiades  came  home,  and  continued  until  Alaric  the  Goth 
destroyed  the  temple.  The  peculiarity  of  this  building  is  that 
it  cuts  into  the  living  rock.  The  interior  somewhat  resembled 
a  theatre,  with  eight  stone  tiers  all  round  it,  and  an  upper 
story  supported  on  columns.    The  building  itself  was  square, 

*  Plate  53. 

\7Q 


THE  GRAND  CENTURY 
with  a  portico  in  front  only.    The  upper  story  was  reached 
by  a  rock-terrace  cut  out  of  the  hill-side  at  the  back.  The 
whole  temple,  with  out-buildings,  was  enclosed  by  a  wall. 

Summing  up  the  architectural  character  of  the  period,  we 
should  say  that  it  was  severely  limited  by  the  conservatism  of 
religion  to  the  austerest  outlines  and  the  simplest  plans.  Such 
laws  it  loyally  obeyed,  and  yet  found  scope  for  exquisite  work- 
manship and  subtle  varieties  within  them.  Ictinus  and 
Mnesicles  were  quite  capable  of  adapting  themselves  to  any 
local  peculiarities,  but  the  strict  Doric  style  still  reigned 
supreme.  Finally  we  note  that  fine  architecture  is  almost 
entirely  confined  to  the  service  of  religion  and  patriotism,  while 
private  and  secular  buildings  are  still  on  the  most  unpretentious 
scale.  The  only  architectural  work  of  a  strictly  utilitarian 
character  that  we  can  mention  is  the  planning  of  the  Peiraeus, 
which  was  as  orderly,  as  regular  and  as  dull  as  "town-planned" 
towns  generally  are. 

Tragedy  and  Comedy 

It  was  the  policy  of  Pericles,  when  he  trusted  his  fellow- 
citizens  with  so  much  power,  to  train  them  to  be  fit  to  wield  it. 
Fond  as  the  Athenian  was  of  political  and  social  equality 
within  his  own  circle  of  citizenship,  his  tone  and  temper  were,  I 
think,  like  those  of  all  the  other  Greeks,  inherently  aristocratic. 
The  Greeks  were  a  chosen  people.  They  stood  aloof,  with 
slaves  and  helots  beneath  them,  and  with  barbarians  all  round 
them.  Few  Greeks  would  have  disputed  the  doctrine  by 
which  Aristotle  justified  slavery :  the  Greek  is  by  nature 
superior;  set  him  down  in  a  barbarian  city,  and  in  a  short  time 
the  Greek  would  be  king.  They  would  have  laughed  sweetly 
at  Lafayette's  "  Rights  of  Man."  Man  only  gets  his  rights  as 
a  member  of  a  partnership,  a  corporate  community — to  wit,  a 
city.  This  community  he  entered,  when  he  was  acknowledged 
as  a  citizen,  not  without  a  strict  scrutiny  into  his  claims,  as 
formally  as  we  enter  a  club.  Having  once  joined  partnership 
with  such  a  state  as  Athens,  his  rights  became  precise  and 

171 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

important.  Among  other  rights,  a  democracy  offered  him 
that  of  taking  his  turn  in  the  government  if  the  lot  or  the 
votes  of  his  fellow-citizens  designated  him  for  office.  Political 
philosophy  maintains  as  an  axiom  that  the  better  people  ought 
to  rule  over  the  worse,  condemning  all  democracy,  and  Athens 
in  particular,  because  there  the  many  ruled  over  the  few,  and 
therefore  necessarily  the  worse  over  the  better.  Pericles  would 
not  have  denied  the  doctrine,  but  only  its  applicability  to 
Athens.  He  would  have  claimed  that  the  whole  Athenian 
citizen  body  possessed  "virtue"  in  the  political  philosopher's 
sense  of  the  word ;  they  were  all  aristoi,  for  he  had  seen  to  it 
that  the  Athenian  citizens  should  all  receive  a  training,  which, 
though  utterly  different  from  the  Spartan  in  its  aims  and 
methods,  was  even  more  capable  of  turning  the  masses  into  an 
aristocracy  of  manners  and  intelligence. 

It  was  a  liberal  education  even  to  walk  in  the  streets  of  that 
wonderful  city,  to  worship  in  her  splendid  shrines,  to  sail  the 
Mediterranean  in  her  fleets,  to  lounge  in  her  colonnades  and 
listen  to  the  wisdom  of  the  wise.  The  temple  services,  the 
festivals,  and  the  banquets  were  intended  with  solemn 
symbolism  to  uplift  the  minds  of  the  worshippers.  There  was 
actual  practice  in  public  business  for  every  one,  whether,  in  the 
Assembly  or  the  Council  Hall  or  the  large  Jury  Courts.  Thus 
it  was  hoped  that  any  man  whom  the  lot  might  appoint  to  be 
archon  or  president  would  be  fit  for  his  duties. 

But  of  all  instruments  of  public  education  perhaps  the  most 
important  was  the  Drama.  This  word,  which  we  associate 
with  entertainment  after  dinner,  with  tinsel  and  bad  ventilation, 
meant  to  the  Greeks  a  religious  solemnity  destined  to  the 
praise  of  gods  and  the  edification  of  men.  During  the  fifth 
century  at  Athens  the  stage  was  far  the  most  powerful  form  of 
literary  and  artistic  expression — so  much  so  that  as  Greek 
literature  in  this  period  is  almost  entirely  absorbed  by  Athens, 
all  the  other  voices  of  poetry  are  for  a  time  reduced  to  silence. 
The  amazingly  rapid  development  of  this  form  of  expression 
was  largely  due  to  the  concentration  with  which  the  literary 
172 


J-.n^itsh  I'hvto  Lo.%  si  them 


Plate  si.  THE  "AGiAS"  of  i.ysippus         [a  172 

(See  p.  169) 


THE  GRAND  CENTURY 
genius  of  Greece  pursued  it.  Athenian  drama,  Tragic,  Comic, 
and  Satyric,  was  produced  at  the  festivals  of  Dionysus,  and  it 
has  generally  been  supposed  to  have  taken  its  rise  from  rude 
choruses  in  honour  of  the  wine-god,  developed  by  Arion  and 
others  into  the  Dithyramb.  This  is  an  ancient  and  respectable 
theory.  The  Satyric  Drama  is  obviously  connected  with  wine 
and  the  wine-god's  goatish  followers,  the  Satyrs.  Comedy  was 
derived  from  kome,  a  village,  being  originally  the  rustic  form 
of  the  same  species  of  mimetic  worship.  As  for  Tragedy,  that 
was  traced  etymologically  to  the  Greek  for  a  goat,  and  of  course 
the  goat  has  a  family  relationship  with  Dionysus.  But  it  has 
recently  been  argued  that  Tragedy  was  certainly  the  earliest  form 
of  the  drama  to  be  developed,  and  though  we  may  wind  up 
an  evening's  jollification  by  going  to  see  "  Othello,"  yet  ancient 
Tragedy  has,  as  was  often  remarked  by  the  ancients  themselves, 
nothing  to  do  with  wine  or  Dionysus,  and  is  scarcely  of  the 
festive  character  that  we  should  associate  with  that  cheerful 
deity.  Professor  Ridgeway  has  shown  some  reason  to  believe 
that  the  drama  took  its  rise  in  quite  a  different  manner — 
namely,  from  the  funeral  ceremonies  held  at  the  tomb  of  a 
dead  hero.  He  shows  the  frequent  appearance  of  tombs  in  the 
scenery  of  Tragedy,  and  adduces  evidence  to  prove  that  the 
Greeks  did  include  mimetic  representations  of  the  dead  hero 
and  his  deeds  among  the  ceremonies  performed  in  his  honour. 
This  would  account  not  only  for  the  character  of  Tragedy,  with 
its  sombre  musings  upon  Death  and  Fate,  but  also  for  the 
milieu  in  which  its  scenes  invariably  moved — namely,  the  Epic 
circle  of  heroes.  Professor  Ridgeway  further  points  out  that 
the  worship  of  Dionysus  was  itself  not  a  very  ancient  nor  a 
strictly  Greek  cult.  Theatres  and  dancing-floors  are,  however, 
as  old  as  Cnossos. 

But  this  very  plausible  and  suggestive  theory  has  scarcely 
yet  had  time  to  stand  its  trial.  What  is  certain  and  most 
important  for  the  understanding  of  Tragedy  is  that  the  Drama 
was  evolved  from  the  song  and  dance  of  the  Chorus.  First 
one  and  then  two  members  of  the  corps  de  ballet  were  brought 

173 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
out  from  the  ranks  to  perform  solo  impersonations,  to  narrate 
an  episode  in  descriptive  rhapsody,  or  to  exchange  information 
by  rapid  question  and  answer.  Important  stages  in  this 
evolutionary  process  were  attributed  in  antiquity  to  Thespis, 
the  so-called  "  inventor  "  of  Tragedy,  and  to  Phrynichus  and 
.^Eschylus,  all  Athenians  of  the  late  sixth  and  early  fifth  cen- 
turies. Then  the  part  played  by  the  "  Answerers  "  (hypocrites), 
as  the  actors  were  called,  gradually  gained  in  magnitude  and 
importance.  In  /Eschylus  the  choric  passages  are  still  the 
main  feature  of  the  play.  In  Sophocles  they  form  a  kind  of 
lyric  commentary  on  the  action  of  the  drama,  in  which  the 
interest  now  begins  to  centre.  In  the  later  work  of  Euripides 
the  Chorus  is  largely  a  superfluous  concession  to  dramatic  con- 
ventions. Already  by  the  end  of  Sophocles'  career  there  were 
as  many  as  four  actors,  and  since  each  performed  numerous 
impersonations,  the  range  of  character  was  considerable. 
Grand  as  Athenian  drama  is,  even  regarded  as  a  vehicle  of 
literary  composition,  the  mere  writing  of  the  "  book "  was  a 
subordinate  part  of  the  work  of  producing  a  play.  In  fact 
Greek  tragedy  is  far  more  closely  akin  to  the  modern  oratorio 
than  to  the  modern  stage-play.  The  task  of  providing,  equip- 
ping, and  training  a  chorus  was  one  of  the  "  liturgies  "  or  public 
duties  laid  by  the  Athenian  state  upon  her  richer  citizens.  It 
lay  in  the  archon's  discretion  to  "grant  a  chorus  "  to  a  poet. 

The  stage  consisted  originally  of  a  circular  dancing-floor 
(orchestra)  with  an  altar  in  the  middle.  Here  the  fifteen 
members  of  the  chorus  marched  in,  headed  by  a  single  flute- 
player,  chanting  in  unison.  As  soon  as  they  had  arrived  in 
position  they  formed  line  three  deep,  the  coryphseus  in  the 
middle  of  the  front  row,  with  the  leader  of  each  semichorus  on 
his  right  and  left.  While  they  sang  they  performed  simple 
rhythmic  movements  of  a  solemn  character.  At  first  the 
individual  actors  simply  stepped  out  from  the  ranks  to  deliver 
their  lines,  but  in  later  times  (when  precisely,  is  a  matter  of 
burning  controversy)  they  appeared  behind  the  orchestra  on  a 
raised  stage.    The  performance  was,  of  course,  always  given 

174 


THE  GRAND  CENTURY 
in  the  open  air.*  In  the  fifth  century  there  was  no  regular 
theatre;  only  a  flat  circular  orchestra  where  the  dramas  were 
produced  in  the  "  Place  of  the  Wine-press  "  to  the  west  of  the 
Acropolis,  and  the  spectators  sat  round  on  wooden  benches. 
It  was  not  until  late  in  the  fourth  century  that  the  great  Theatre 
of  Dionysus,  with  its  tiers  of  stone  seats  resting  on  the  living 


Theatrical  Figures,  Comic  and  Tragic 


rock,  was  constructed  under  the  south  cliff  of  the  citadel.  It 
has  been  remarked  that  the  Greek  stage  was  not,  as  ours  is, 
pictorial,  but  rather  plastic,  giving  the  effect  of  figures  in 
relief  against  a  background.  This  was  one  reason  why  the 
actors  wore  high  boots  which  gave  them  superhuman  stature, 
and  padded  garments  and  trailing  skirts.  The  masks  they 
wore  were  part  of  the  traditional  convention  of  Greek  drama. 
The  mask  would,  of  course,  preclude  any  facial  expression  what- 
soever. The  Greek  actor  showed  his  skill  in  the  grace  of  his 
movements,  the  expressiveness  of  his  gestures,  and  the  clear- 
ness and  force  of  his  articulation.  Dramatic  declamation  was  his 
main  business.    Under  these  circumstances  it  is  clear  that  we 

•  Plate  54. 

*75 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

must  not  expect  subtle  nuances  of  meaning  to  be  conveyed  by  the 
actors  in  Greek  tragedy,  though  modern  interpreters  are  always 
on  the  look-out  for  them.  Conceive  Henry  Irving  with  an  im- 
movable eyebrow,  or  Coquelin  with  his  mouth  fixed  open  in  a 
perpetual  grimace.  It  is  obvious  that  the  whole  character  of 
the  representation  is  transformed.  The  female  parts,  too,  were, 
as  on  our  own  Elizabethan  stage,  invariably  taken  by  men  or 
boys.  The  scenery  was  of  the  simplest.  The  costume  was 
one  conventional  to  the  tragic  stage;  there  was  only  the  slightest 
attempt  to  dress  the  parts.  The  plays  thus  had  the  simplicity 
and  breadth  of  treatment  which  we  have  seen  in  the  statuary 
and  architecture  of  the  period.  The  art  of  Pheidias  is  the 
most  illuminating  commentary  upon  that  of  Sophocles.  As 
we  saw  in  Cresilas'  portrait  of  Pericles,  idealistic  treatment  is 
maintained  so  faithfully  as  a  principle  that  realistic  characterisa- 
tion is  only  admitted  so  far  as  it  does  not  conflict  with  the 
ideal.  In  both  arts  the  heroes  and  heroines  must  have  the 
profile  and  contours  of  physical  and  moral  perfection.  It  is 
only  within  these  limits  thatDeianira  can  be  soft  and  womanly, 
Antigone  stern  and  faithful  unto  death,  Ajax  bluff  and  bold, 
Neoptolemus  young  and  generous.  There  are  broader  strokes 
of  character-drawing  in  the  minor  characters.  Messengers, 
slaves,  and  sentinels  are  sometimes  permitted  the  homely  sen- 
tentiousness  of  Juliet's  Nurse.  But  there  is  nothing  that  can 
truly  be  called  relief  from  the  stern  shadows  that  encompass 
the  world  of  Greek  tragedy. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  themes  upon  which 
Tragedy  drew  were,  almost  exclusively,  the  heroic  or  epic 
legends.  One  or  two  exceptions  there  are;  the  "Persse"  of 
y£schylus  is  one  such,  for  reasons  which  I  have  already  ex- 
plained. Phrynichus  also  wrote  a  tragedy  founded  on  con- 
temporary history,  "The  Sack  of  Miletus,"  an  episode  of  the 
Ionian  revolt.  But  such  a  theme  came  too  near  home,  touched 
too  closely  on  politics,  and  the  poet  was  punished  with  a  fine. 
Otherwise  the  dramatist  had  no  scope  for  originality  or  for  the 
element  of  the  unexpected  in  the  choice  of  his  plot.  It  is  as  if 
176 


THE  GRAND  CENTURY 
our  dramatists  were  restricted  to  the  Bible  for  their  choice  of 
subjects  instead  of  being  entirely  debarred  from  it.  The 
audience  knew  the  main  outline  of  the  story  as  soon  as  the  play 
began.  Thus  the  audience  was  often  in  the  secret  while  the 
characters  on  the  stage  were  not,  and  this  fact  gave  scope  for 
dramatic  irony,  which  is  especially  connected  with  the  name  of 
Sophocles. 

Sophocles  is  for  literature  the  supreme  embodiment  of  the 
Athenian  spirit  at  this  its  purest  and  highest  period.  The 
tragedies  of  y£schylus  have  the  grandeur  and  incompleteness 
of  archaic  art.  He  wrestles  with  the  most  awful  problems  of 
human  destiny  and  divine  purpose.  His  style  matches  his 
themes;  it  is  a  whirlpool  of  foaming  imagery  in  which 
great  masses  of  poetry  in  phrase  and  metaphor  appear  and 
disappear  continually.  He  continually  baffles  the  transcriber 
and  the  modern  interpreter,  and  it  is  only  the  most  reverential 
spirit  that  can  refrain  from  occasional  sensations  of  ludicrous 
bathos.  Euripides,  on  the  other  hand,  is  so  fluent  and  easy  in 
his  craftsmanship  that  he  often  seems  by  contrast  commonplace. 
He  is  probably  the  cleverest  of  all  dramatists,  and  he  often  dealt 
with  his  religious  themes  in  the  spirit  of  an  unabashed  sceptic. 
Like  Plato,  he  saw  that  the  gods  of  anthropomorphic  creation 
were  very  far  from  ideal;  and  he  used  all  the  craft  and  subtlety 
of  the  rationalist  to  exhibit  them  at  their  weakest,  i^schylus 
is  the  poet  of  the  religious  men  of  Marathon ;  Euripides,  "  the 
human,"  is  the  prophet  of  the  New  Age  of  the  fourth  century, 
liberal,  cosmopolitan,  restless  and  fearless  in  inquiry.  Sophocles 
is  the  true  exponent  of  Periclean  Athens  in  the  realm  of 
literature. 

With  his  inflexible  idealism,  the  poetry  of  Sophocles  is  sub- 
limated almost  beyond  human  ken.  Moderns  sometimes  find  him 
too  perfect,  too  statuesque  to  be  interesting.  It  is  both  their 
misfortune  and  their  fault.  The  appreciation  of  Sophocles  is  a 
test  of  refined  scholarship  and  an  ear  sensitive  to  the  inner 
voices  of  poetry.  This  makes  translation  almost  impossible, 
but  Mr.  Whitelaw,  of  Rugby,  has  come  so  near  to  achieving  that 

m  177 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
impossible  that  I  would  venture,  through  his  medium,  to  pre- 
sent a  specimen  of  this  poet's  exquisite  art.   This  is  the  famous 
choric  ode  on  Love  from  the  "  Antigone." 

Strophe 

"  O  Love,  our  conqueror,  matchless  in  might, 
Thou  prevailest,  O  Love,  thou  dividest  the  prey  : 
In  damask  cheeks  of  a  maiden 
Thy  watch  through  the  night  is  set. 
Thou  roamest  over  the  sea  ; 
On  the  hills,  in  the  shepherd's  huts,  thou  art ; 
Nor  of  deathless  gods,  nor  of  shortlived  men, 
From  thy  madness  any  escapeth. 

Antistrophe 

"  Unjust,  through  thee,  are  the  thoughts  of  the  just ; 
Thou  dost  bend  them,  O  Love,  to  thy  will,  to  thy  spite. 
Unkindly  strife  thou  hast  kindled, 
This  wrangling  of  son  with  sire. 
For  great  laws,  throned  in  the  heart, 
To  the  sway  of  a  rival  power  give  place, 
To  the  love-light  flashed  from  a  fair  bride's  eyes : 
In  her  triumph  laughs  Aphrodite. 
Me,  even  now,  me  also, 
Seeing  these  things,  a  sudden  pity 
Beyond  all  governance  transports : 
The  fountains  of  my  tears 
I  can  refrain  no  more, 

Seeing  Antigone  here  to  the  bridal  chamber 
Come,  to  the  all-receiving  chamber  of  Death." 

In  this  ode  we  have  the  Greek  tragic  view  of  the  passion 
of  Love,  as  the  destroyer  and  distractor  of  man's  peace  and 
sanity.  Love  is  one  of  the  means  whereby  tragic  fate  fulfils  its 
purposes  of  vengeance.  The  circumstances  of  this  particular 
case  are  these  :  Of  Antigone's  two  brothers  one  had  marched 
against  his  native  city,  and  the  other  had  taken  arms  in  its 
defence.  Both  had  fallen  on  the  field  of  battle.  Creon,  the 
city's  tyrant,  forbade  any  one,  under  pain  of  death,  to  give  burial 
178 


THE  GRAND  CENTURY 
to  the  slain  enemy.  In  this,  of  course,  he  was  violating  one  of 
the  most  sacred  laws  of  Greek  religion.  Now  Antigone  was 
betrothed  to  Creon's  own  son,  Haemon  ;  nevertheless  her  duty 
was  to  brave  the  tyrant's  decree  and  give  the  honours  of 
formal  burial  to  her  dead  brother.  She  did  so.  Creon  there- 
upon pronounced  her  doom,  and  Haemon  in  his  despair  slew 
himself  upon  the  tomb  in  which  she  was  immured.  The  whole 
story  is  but  an  episode  in  the  doom  of  the  house  of  CEdipus, 
father  of  Antigone.  The  Greek  view  of  Love,  then,  is  the 
antithesis  of  the  romantic  view  of  it.  Where  Love  conflicts 
with  duty  it  must  be  rigorously  suppressed,  as  a  source  of 
folly,  weakness,  and  wickedness.  So  much  is  this  the  case  that 
Sophocles  puts  into  the  mouth  of  Antigone  words  which  he  had 
probably  borrowed  from  Herodotus,  and  which  give  a  view  of 
the  Great  Passion  so  painfully  unromantic  that  the  modern 
commentator,  who  for  all  his  prosiness  is  a  thoroughly  romantic 
person,  is  tempted  to  use  the  shears  by  which  he  commonly 
cuts  his  knots  and  call  it  an  interpolation.  "  My  duty," says 
Antigone,  "is  to  my  brother  first.  You  speak  of  my  duty  to 
my  future  husband,  and  my  future  children.  I  reply  that  a 
brother  is  more  than  a  husband  or  children  ;  they  can  be 
replaced,  a  brother  cannot." 

An  even  more  disconcerting  display  of  common  sense  in  a 
presumably  romantic  situation  is  seen  in  that  amazing  play  the 
"  Alcestis  "  of  Euripides.  Every  one  knows  the  tale,  how 
Admetus  was  allowed  as  a  boon  from  Apollo  to  get  some  one 
else  as  a  substitute  in  his  place  when  Death  came  to  fetch  him. 
His  faithful  wife,  Alcestis,  took  his  place,  being  consoled  by 
Admetus  with  the  promise  of  a  handsome  funeral.  Then  the 
king's  old  father  appears  upon  thescene  to  offer  his  condolences 
to  the  widower,  but  is  immediately  assailed  with  the  most 
vehement  reproaches  for  not  having  himself,  as  an  old  man 
with  one  foot  in  the  grave  already,  shown  sufficient  pluck  to 
volunteer  death.  He  not  unnaturally  retorts  that  if  it  is  a 
question  of  daring  to  die,  Admetus  himself  had  not  been  re- 
markable for  courage.  The  point  is  one  that  pleases  Euripides  ; 

179 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
it  is  a  nice  point  of  casuistry ;  he  lets  the  speakers  dispute  it  at 
some  length.    I  think  these  two  passages  are  significant  of 
much.    When  we  think  of  the  Greeks  as  a  race  of  poetic  and 
artistic  genius  we  must  not  forget  that  practical,  unsentimental 
common  sense  is  among  their  most  prominent  characteristics. 
They  habitually  exposed  weakly  infants   to   death.  Their 
comedy  is   singularly  merciless  to  disease  and  deformity. 
Plato's  treatment  of  the  sex  problem  in  his  ideal  republic  is 
strikingly  cold-blooded,  but  hardly  more  so  than  the  actual 
treatment  of  the  same  problem  in  the  real  republic  of  Sparta. 
Before  we  leave  this  question  of  the  romantic  in  the  Greek 
character  two  things  should  be  observed.    The  romantic  ele- 
ment unquestionably  grows  stronger  as  Greek  civilisation  ap- 
proaches its  decline:  there  is  a  good  deal  of  it  in  Menander 
and  Theocritus,  still  more  in  Heliodorus;  Alexander  the  Great 
is  romantic  to  the  finger-tips.    Secondly,  although  there  is  so 
little  of  it  in  Tragedy,  or  generally  in  the  relations  between  the 
two  sexes,  it  is  found  in  a  degree  of  almost  modern  intensity 
in  the  relations  between  Heracles  and  Hylas,  between  Theseus 
and  Peirithous,  between  Harmodius  and  Aristogeiton.    It  was 
not  foolishness  to  the  Greeks  for  a  man  to  face  death  for 
the  youth  he  loved.    Indeed,  upon  that  theory  Epaminondas 
the  Theban  organised  that  Sacred  Band  which  for  a  time 
revolutionised  Greek  history. 

Another  characteristic  excellence  of  Greek  drama,  and 
especially  of  Sophocles,  is  its  extraordinary  power  of  narrative. 
With  its  severe  scenic  limitations,  the  Attic  stage  wisely  re- 
frained from  attempting  to  reproduce  realistically  exciting 
spectacular  incidents.  The  actual  "tragedies"  seldom  occur 
in  the  sight  of  the  audience.  Far  more  often  the  hero  or 
heroine  leaves  the  stage  in  despair,  the  chorus  intervenes  with 
a  mournful  ode,  and  then  a  messenger  arrives  with  a  narra- 
tive of  the  fatal  occurrence.  Shakespeare,  with  scarcely  less 
severe  limitations,  faced  the  impossible,  and  courted  ridicule  by 
representing  battles  in  full  detail  on  the  stage  by  means  of  a 
handful  of  overworked  "  supers."  What  they  could  not  repre- 
180 


THE  GRAND  CENTURY 

sent  the  Greeks  narrated;  and  Horace,  indeed,  exalts  it  into  a 
principle  of  dramatic  art  that  "Medea  must  not  butcher  her 
babes  in  public."  That  the  Greek  dramatists  so  refrained  was 
probably  due  to  dramatic  tradition  as  well  as  to  the  practical 
necessities  of  the  case.  When  there  was  only  one  speaking 
actor  in  addition  to  the  chorus  his  part  must  have  been  chiefly 
what  our  composers  of  oratorios  call  "recitative."  For  these 
two  reasons,  and  perhaps  also  in  obedience  to  the  Greek  spirit 
of  self-restraint,  narrative  declamation  by  "messengers"  is  a 
striking  feature  of  all  Greek  tragedy. 

We  have  seen  already  the  religious  theory  upon  which 
tragedy  is  generally  based,  the  logical  sequence  of  Success, 
Pride,  Vengeance,  and  Ruin.    The  tragedians  deal  largely  with 
stories  of  the  doom  which  had  pursued  certain  of  the  heroic 
houses  like  that  of  Labdacus  or  Atreus.    In  such  cases  a 
prophetic  curse  rests  upon  the  entire  dynasty:  Atreus  slays  his 
brother's  children  and   bequeaths   doom   for  Agamemnon. 
Agamemnon  is  slain  by  his  guilty  wife  Clytcemnestra,  whereby 
a  duty  of  vengeance  devolves  upon  their  son  Orestes,  who  must 
slay  his  mother,  and  therefore  must  incur  the  celestial  doom  of 
the  matricide,  unless  Apollo  himself  can  intervene  to  release 
him  from  the  vengeance  of  the  Furies.    Such  stories  were 
pursued  by  all  three  great  tragedians,  often  in  sequences  of 
three  tragedies  called  trilogies.   They  have  no  "  moral,"  except 
that  sin  breeds  suffering  to  the  third  and  fourth  generation,  but 
the  sin  is  often  an  involuntary  one.    The  purpose  of  the 
tragedian  is  to  show  the  struggles  of  man  against  fate.  Ac- 
cording to  Aristotle's  oft-quoted  theory,  the  purpose  of  Tragedy 
is  to  act  as  a  "  purgative  of  the  emotions  by  means  of  pity  and 
terror."    As  the  surgeon  lets  blood  in  order  to  reduce  fever, 
so  the  drama  enables  the  spectator  to  acquire  peace  of  soul 
through  the  vicarious  sorrows  of  its  heroes  and  heroines. 
Aristotle  declares  every  tragedy  to  consist  of  two  parts,  the 
tying  of  the  knot  and  the  loosing  of  it.    The  "  loosing " 
commonly  involves  a  peripeteia,  or  sudden  reversal  of  for- 
tune, as  when  Agamemnon's  triumphant  return  is  changed 

i  Si 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
to  death  and  mourning;  often  it  is  brought  about  by  an 
anagnorisis,  or  recognition,  as  when  the  stranger  in  the 
palace  is  found  to  be  Orestes  come  home  for  revenge.  The 
so-called  Aristotelian  "  unities,"  which  have  loomed  so  bulkily 
in  the  history  of  dramatic  criticism,  and  under  the  fear  of  which 
the  classical  dramatists  of  France  were  imprisoned,  are  not  to 
be  found  in  Aristotle.  He  does,  indeed,  advocate  unity  of 
subject,  but  unity  of  time  and  place  are  nowhere  demanded. 
The  natural  limitations  and  the  consequent  simplicity  of  the 
Greek  stage  generally  imposed  these  unities  as  a  practical 
necessity. 

Greek  simplicity  is  often,  as  we  have  seen,  a  studiously 
contrived  impression  and  the  result  of  elaborate  concealment 
of  art.  That  it  is  not  entirely  so  in  the  case  of  the  drama  is 
proved  by  the  astonishing  fertility  of  the  principal  dramatists. 
./Eschylus  wrote  more  than  70  plays,  Sophocles  113,  Euripides 
92,  and  another  tragic  poet  whose  work  has  not  survived  240. 
They  were  written  and  produced  in  competition.  In  468  B.C. 
Sophocles  began  his  public  career  by  competing  against 
./Eschylus  for  the  prize  of  tragedy.  As  the  house  seemed 
equally  divided,  the  presiding  archon  left  the  decision  to  the 
ten  generals  who  had  just  come  back  victorious  from  their 
warfare  in  Thrace.  The  prize  was  awarded  to  Sophocles,  who, 
it  is  significant  to  notice,  had  been  specially  trained  under  a 
famous  musician.  Euripides  only  won  the  prize  five  times  in 
a  poetical  career  of  fifty  years.  A  prize  was  likewise  awarded 
to  the  choregus  who  produced  and  trained  the  best  chorus. 
It  was  the  custom  for  the  successful  choregus,  who  was  always, 
of  course,  a  rich  man,  to  dedicate  his  prize — a  tripod — in  a 
certain  street  in  Athens.  One  such  monument  of  the  fourth 
century  by  a  certain  Lysicrates  is  still  standing  in  fair  preserva- 
tion. It  was  a  pretty  example  of  the  luxurious  Corinthian 
order  of  architecture.* 

Tragedies  were  performed  three  times  a  year  at  the  three 
festivals  of  Dionysus.    The  poet  had  an  audience  of  13,000, 

*  Plate  55. 

182 


fio.  2.    RBD-FIGUKBD  vase  (Sec  |).  191) 
Plate  56 


[/.  182 


THE  GRAND  CENTURY 
including  strangers  from  all  parts  of  Greece.  At  first,  it 
would  seem,  admission  was  free,  but  so  great  was  the  crush 
that  a  small  entrance  fee  was  charged.  It  was  one  of  the 
really  popular  measures  of  Pericles  to  start  a  fund  not  only  for 
enabling  the  poorer  citizens  to  enter  free,  but  actually  to  com- 
pensate them  for  their  loss  of  employment  while  engaged  in 
this  public  duty.  After  all,  why  should  the  privileges  of  free 
education  be  lost  by  the  citizen  merely  because  he  is  over 
fourteen  years  of  age  ?  Why  should  we  have  to  pay  to  enter 
the  theatre,  when  the  doors  of  the  National  Gallery  are  opened 
to  us  for  nothing  ? 

I  find  it  much  more  difficult  to  speak  of  Athenian  Comedy 
with  candour  and  discrimination.  Scholars  of  unblemished 
reputation  and  unimpeachable  sense  of  humour  do  unquestion- 
ably find  the  plays  of  Aristophanes,  even  when  produced  by 
English  schoolboys  on  speech-day,  excessively  diverting. 
There  is,  it  is  true,  in  Aristophanes  a  good  deal  of  simple 
honest  fun  of  the  type  represented  by  Mr.  Punch  or  Mr. 
Pickwick  and  his  spectacles  in  the  wheelbarrow.  When  the 
wrong  man  gets  a  thwacking  or  when  an  ignorant  amateur 
told  to  sit  to  the  oar  proceeds  to  sit  on  it,  it  is,  I  suppose,  no 
less  funny  in  the  twentieth  century  anno  Domini  than  it  was 
in  the  fifth  century  before  Christ.  But  there  I  must  leave  the 
humour  of  Aristophanes  to  those  who  can  appreciate  it  and 
still  laugh  even  when  they  have  laboriously  picked  out  the 
point  of  the  joke  from  the  notes  at  the  end  of  their  text-book. 
Most  of  the  humour  is  of  this  type.  It  was  written  to  burlesque 
the  well-known  figures  of  the  day,  and  no  doubt  served  its 
purpose  extremely  well.  Indeed,  there  is  no  more  certain  proof 
of  the  liberty  of  speech  which  prevailed  in  Athens  than  the 
fact  that  Aristophanes  was  permitted  to  represent  Cleon  the 
Prime  Minister  in  successive  plays  in  the  most  ludicrous  and 
offensive  situations.  The  Old  Comedy  of  Athens  rested 
largely  upon  a  basis  of  venomous  personal  slander  and  libel 
without  self-restraint,  without  even  common  decency.  It  must 
be  added  that  all  ancient  humour  was  corrupted  at  the  source 

183 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
with  obscenity.  Anthropology,  no  doubt,  explains  this  satis- 
factorily for  the  anthropologist.  Comedy  took  its  rise  from 
obscene  representations  of  the  power  of  fecundity.  Women 
and  children  were  properly  forbidden  to  be  present  at  comic 
representations.  It  is  not  only  thus  with  literature ;  the  comic 
vase-paintings  of  Athens  and  the  comic  frescoes  of  Pompeii 
are  not  suitable  to  modern  taste. 

Aristophanes  as  a  poet  is  in  a  very  different  category.  Every 
now  and  then  in  a  parabasis  he  turns  to  talk  to  his  audience, 
so  to  speak,  in  his  own  person,  dropping  for  the  moment  into 
serious  vein.    In  such  passages  he  is  often  superb. 

In  the  following  dialogue  from  "The  Frogs"  we  have  an 
interesting  and  characteristic  piece  of  literary  criticism. 
Aristophanes  is,  as  we  have  seen,  a  Tory.  The  Athenian  he 
loves  is  remarkably  like  the  John  Bull  of  our  national  ideal. 
Here  ^Eschylus  as  the  poet  of  the  old  order  is  at  issue  with 
Euripides,  and  Dionysus  himself  is  there  to  umpire,  disguised 
as  an  irrelevant  Philistine.  The  spirited  and  very  free  trans- 
lation is  by  Hookham  Frere.  Euripides  has  already  expounded 
his  principles,  and  ^Eschylus  now  takes  his  turn. 

AESCHYLUS 

"  Observe  then,  and  mark,  what  our  citizens  were, 
When  first  from  my  care  they  were  trusted  to  you ; 
Not  scoundrel  informers,  or  paltry  buffoons, 
Evading  the  services  due  to  the  State ; 
But  with  hearts  all  on  fire,  for  adventure  and  war, 
Distinguished  for  hardiness,  stature,  and  strength, 
Breathing  forth  nothing  but  lances  and  darts, 
Arms,  and  equipment,  and  battle  array, 
Bucklers,  and  shields,  and  habergeons,  and  hauberks, 
Helmets,  and  plumes,  and  heroic  attire. 

Euripides 

*'  But  how  did  you  manage  to  make  'em  so  manly  ? 
What  was  the  method,  the  means  that  you  took  ? 

Dionysus 

"  Speak,  yEschylus,  speak,  and  behave  yourself  better, 

And  don't,  in  your  rage,  stand  so  silent  and  stern. 
184 


THE  GRAND  CENTURY 


iEsCHYLUS 

A  drama,  brimful  with  heroical  spirit. 

Euripides 

What  did  you  call  it? 

^Eschylus 

"  •  The  Chiefs  against  Thebes, 
That  inspired  each  spectator  with  martial  ambition, 
Courage,  and  ardour,  and  prowess,  and  pride. 

Dionysus 

But  you  did  very  wrong  to  encourage  the  Thebans. 
Indeed  you  deserve  to  be  punished,  you  do, 
For  the  Thebans  are  grown  to  be  capital  soldiers. 
You've  done  us  a  mischief  by  that  very  thing. 

jEschylus 

The  fault  was  your  own,  if  you  took  other  courses ; 

The  lesson  I  taught  was  directed  to  you  ; 

Then  I  gave  you  the  glorious  theme  of  1  The  Persians 

Replete  with  sublime  patriotical  strains, 

The  record  and  example  of  noble  achievement, 

The  delight  of  the  city,  the  pride  of  the  stage. 

Dionysus 

I  rejoiced,  I  confess,  when  the  tidings  were  carried 
To  old  King  Darius,  so  long  dead  and  buried, 
And  the  chorus  in  concert  kept  wringing  their  hands, 
Weeping  and  wailing,  and  crying,  Alasl 

yEsCHYLUS 

'Such  is  the  duty,  the  task  of  a  poet, 
Fulfilling  in  honour  his  office  and  trust. 
Look  to  traditional  history,  look 
To  antiquity,  primitive,  early,  remote: 
See  there  what  a  blessing  illustrious  poets 
Conferr'd  on  mankind,  in  the  centuries  past. 
Orpheus  instructed  mankind  in  religion, 
Reclaimed  them  from  bloodshed  and  barbarous  rites ; 
Musseus  delivered  the  doctrine  of  medicine, 
And  warnings  prophetic  for  ages  to  come. 
Next  came  old  Hesiod,  teaching  us  husbandry, 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

Ploughing,  and  sowing,  and  rural  affairs, 
Rural  economy,  rural  astronomy, 
Homely  morality,  labour  and  thrift : 
Homer  himself,  our  adorable  Homer, 
What  was  his  title  to  praise  and  renown  ? 
What  but  the  worth  of  the  lessons  he  taught  us, 
Discipline,  arms,  and  endurance  of  war  ?  " 

All  Greek  literature  and  art  is  judged  by  critics  of  all  sorts 
from  a  standard  almost  exclusively  moral.  "Did  he  teach 
well?"  "Did  his  art  make  people  better?"  Such  are  the 
questions  constantly  applied.  The  doctrine  of  Art  for  Art's 
sake  would  have  seemed  to  the  Greeks  monstrous  and  wicked. 
The  actual  charges  made  against  Euripides  in  these  scenes  are 
(i)  that  he  was  an  innovator;  (2)  that  he  was  a  realist,  intro- 
ducing lame  people  and  beggars  in  rags  on  the  idealist  tragic 
stage ;  (3)  that  he  was  fond  of  casuistry,  and  thereby  cultivated 
dishonesty ;  (4)  that  he  chose  immoral  subjects  dealing  with 
such  revolting  topics  as  women  in  love !  Sophocles  is  evi- 
dently regarded  by  our  irrepressible  bard  as  a  personage  too 
sacred  to  be  brought  upon  his  stage.  That  gentle  spirit  would 
have  no  part  in  such  a  strife  either  here  or  in  the  underworld. 

I  look  upon  Greek  Comedy  as  a  Saturnalian  product.  A 
people  accustomed  to  a  strict,  self-imposed  discipline  in  the 
rest  of  its  art  and  morals  deliberately  throws  off  its  restraints 
and  lets  itself  go  on  occasions,  like  a  Scotchman  at  Hogmanay. 
The  Greeks  were  not  in  the  least  shocked  by  occasional  and 
seasonable  ebullitions  of  high  spirits.  If  you  had  an  enemy  or 
an  opponent  in  politics,  the  production  of  a  comedy  was  the 
time  when  you  might  reasonably  assert  that  his  deceased 
mother  had  been  a  greengrocer,  or  that  his  wife  had  eloped 
with  a  Thracian  footman,  or  that  his  face  was  ugly  and  his 
person  offensive  to  the  senses.  You  were  expected  to  include 
some  references  to  Melanthius,  a  tragic  poet  who  was  notoriously 
and  most  laughably  afflicted  with  leprosy,  or  Opuntius,  who 
provoked  great  mirth  by  having  only  one  eye,  or  Cleonymus, 
who  lost  his  shield  on  the  field  of  battle,  or  Patroclides,  who 
186 


THE  GRAND  CENTURY 

suffered  a  celebrated  accident  in  the  theatre.  Any  reference 
to  leather  was  sure  of  a  hearty  laugh,  for  Cleon  was  interested 
in  the  leather-market.  Anything  about  crabs  tickled  the 
audience,  because  they  all  knew  Carcinus,  the  tragic  poet. 
Impudent  personalities  are  generally  amusing  for  the  moment, 
and  they  were  the  mainstay  of  old  comedy.  May  it  rest  in 
peace  1 

Aidos 

Almost  to  weariness  the  chronicler  of  Greek  culture  has 
to  reiterate  this  virtue  of  Moderation,  Self-knowledge,  Self- 
restraint,  as  the  secret  of  all  that  is  highest  in  the  great  period. 
It  is  a  very  remarkable  phenomenon  after  all.  There  was 
nothing  in  the  Greek  temperament  to  account  for  it :  on  the 
contrary,  they  were  excitable  and  hot-blooded  people  of  the 
South.  There  was  nothing  at  all  in  their  religion  to  preach 
asceticism.  It  was  not  a  product  of  reaction,  a  result  of 
surfeit  from  extravagance,  because  it  belongs  to  the  earlier 
phases  of  culture  only.  I  think  it  was  due  in  a  large  measure 
to  the  force  of  historical  circumstances.  The  same  influences 
of  external  barbarism  which  forced  them  to  fence  their  states 
behind  a  ring-wall  on  a  rocky  citadel  also  led  them  to  enclose 
their  souls  within  a  wall  of  reserve.  The  West  was  not  yet 
awake;  it  was  against  the  East  that  they  had  to  fight,  spiritually 
as  well  as  bodily.  Eastern  "barbarism,"  which  was  really 
civilisation,  ancient  and  splendid,  visibly  exhibited  all  the  lusts 
of  the  flesh,  all  the  pomps  and  vanities  of  this  wicked  world. 
Notably  the  Ionian  philosophers,  who  saw  the  East  close  at 
hand,  were  the  first  to  preach  "Know  thyself"  and  "Nothing 
too  much!"  And  the  Athenians,  who  had  personally  inflicted 
the  Nemesis  that  attends  pride,  were  the  first  to  practise  it. 

But  they  seem  to  have  had  some  congenital  craving  for 
perfection.  Some  have  attributed  it  to  their  perfect  physical 
health.  Aristophanes,  as  we  have  just  seen,  laughs  scornfully 
at  disease  and  deformity.  Euripides  is  arraigned  for  getting 
dramatic  pathos  out  of  rags  and  tatters.    When  Pericles 

187 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

delivers  his  oration  over  the  dead  soldiers  he  never  once 
alludes  to  an  individual's  prowess  or  fate.  When  Pheidias 
designs  his  long  frieze,  though  there  is  infinite  variety  in  the 
poses  of  his  people,  though  every  fold  of  drapery,  every  limb 
of  man  and  beast  is  separately  arranged  with  an  eye  to  its  own 
value  in  the  design,  the  faces  are  not  allowed  to  express  any 
transient  or  personal  emotion.  A  monster,  such  as  a  Centaur, 
or  a  Giant,  or  a  Barbarian,  may  be  allowed  a  wrinkled  forehead 
to  express  age,  or  a  twisted  mouth  to  express  pain  or  emotion, 
but  a  Greek  must  be  perfect  and  serene. 

This  principle  may  be  studied  in  detail  upon  the  tomb- 
stones of  Athens.  You  may  often  get  much  illumination  about 
the  character  of  people  from  their  attitude  in  presence  of  death. 
The  Turk  plants  cypresses  in  his  cemeteries,  carves  a  turban  on 
a  shaft  over  his  graves,  and  then  leaves  the  dead  to  keep  their 
own  graveyards  tidy.  The  Frenchman  adorns  his  tombs  with 
conventional  wreaths  of  tin  flowers.  The  Englishman  ad- 
vertises the  virtues  of  the  wealthy  deceased  and  the  emotions 
of  the  survivors  in  Biblical  texts  or  rather  insincere  epitaphs. 
The  Italian,  when  he  can  afford  it,  erects  florid  monuments  in 
Carrara  marble.  The  nomad  barbarian  burns  his  dead,  the 
jungle  savage  leaves  the  corpse  in  a  tree  for  sepulture  by  the 
birds  of  heaven.  The  Egyptian  preserves  the  body  in  balms 
and  spices  for  the  great  awakening.  The  Roman  generally 
used  the  pyre  and  stored  the  ashes  methodically  in  tombs  and 
catacombs. 

We  have  seen  that  a  divergence  in  funeral  practice  prob- 
ably marks  the  difference  between  the  two  races  which  went 
to  make  up  the  population  of  ancient  Greece.  The  aboriginal 
Southerners  seem  to  have  preserved  their  dead  in  shaft-graves 
and  dome-graves,  when  their  means  allowed,  sometimes  only 
in  earthenware  jars.  Rock-tombs  of  a  similar  character  are 
found  in  great  numbers  all  over  Asia  Minor,  especially  in 
Phrygia  and  Lycia.  Sometimes  in  more  civilised  times  they 
are  replaced  by  large  sarcophagi  of  stone,  wood,  or  earthenware. 
Such  is  the  Harpy  Tomb  at  Xanthus,  and  the  sculptures  upon 
1 88 


Plate  58.   ORPHEUS  AND- EURYDICE.   [TOMBSTONE  RELIEF]      [/.  188 
(See  p.  193) 


THE  GRAND  CENTURY 

it  indicate  the  religious  beliefs  which  accompany  that  form  of 
burial — the  winged  angels  which  carry  the  soul  away  after 
death,  whether  called  Fates  or  Harpies.  Then  the  soul  itself 
is  often  represented  as  a  tiny  winged  figure,  sometimes  issuing 
from  the  mouth  of  the  dead.  It  was  thus  that  the  Greek  word 
Psyche  came  to  mean  both  "soul"  and  "butterfly."  Tombs 
of  this  architectural  character  were  obviously  intended  as 
houses  for  the  dead,  and,  indeed,  their  design  often  follows  the 
character  of  the  houses  occupied  by  the  living.  In  accordance 
with  the  same  idea,  objects  dear  to  the  living  are  buried  with 
the  dead,  such  as  the  weapons  and  accoutrements  of  a  warrior, 
the  jewels  and  personal  belongings  of  a  woman,  the  toys  of  a 
child.  Sometimes  economical  motives  lead  to  a  mere  con- 
ventional copying  of  the  real  object,  and  many  of  the  axes  and 
swords  found  in  the  old  tombs  are  far  too  weak  ever  to  have 
been  made  for  practical  use.  Blood  and  libations  were  some- 
times poured  into  the  graves,  and  vessels  containing  oil,  or  even 
food  and  drink,  were  often  placed  in  the  tomb,  and  when  money 
came  into  use  as  much  of  that  as  could  conveniently  be  spared. 
That  too  was  conventionalised  into  the  penny  due  to  Charon, 
who  ferried  souls  across  the  Styx.  The  "  sop  to  Cerberus  "  was 
also  a  mythological  explanation  of  the  food  buried  with  the  body. 

But  Charon  and  Cerberus  seem  to  belong  to  a  different 
series  of  ideas  about  the  dead.  The  Northerners,  such  as  the 
Achaeans  of  Homer,  burned  their  dead  upon  the  funeral  pyre, 
collecting  their  ashes  in  jars  and  urns,  and  in  the  case  of  a 
great  man  raising  a  barrow  over  the  spot.  They  believed  that 
the  soul  of  the  happy  warrior  departed  to  a  Valhalla  or  Paradise 
in  the  Isles  of  the  Blessed,  where  he  lived  thenceforth  as  he 
had  lived  on  earth  at  his  best,  in  continual  feasting  and  athletic 
exercise.  The  soul  could  not  attain  to  this  blessed  relief  until 
it  had  received  the  rites  of  burial,  and  to  deny  burial  was  an 
awful  crime  against  Greek  morality.  After  a  battle  one  side 
generally  had  to  acknowledge  its  defeat  by  asking  for  a  truce 
in  order  that  it  might  bury  its  dead. 

Historical  Athens  practised  both  burial  and  cremation,  after 

189 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
a  period  of  lying  in  state.  Burial  would  seem  to  have  been  the 
older  custom,  for  it  was  assumed  that  the  bones  of  Theseus  must 
still  be  in  existence  somewhere,  until  they  were  eventually 
discovered  in  the  island  of  Scyros.  The  Blessed  Isles  and  the 
Heroic  Valhalla  doubtless  survived  as  a  literary  tradition,  but 
the  "Hades"  of  ordinary  Greek  religion  was  the  "grisly 
home "  of  Pluto  and  Persephone,  a  place  of  darkness  and 
lamentation.  We  have  seen  that  Pythagoras  taught  the  im- 
mortality of  the  soul ;  but  then,  as  now,  it  was  not  philosophy 
which  created  the  popular  ideas  about  death.  The  belief  in 
immortality  which  undoubtedly  prevailed  generally  in  Greece 
seems  to  have  been  connected  rather  with  the  oldest  religion  of 
agricultural  days.  Such  was  the  mystical  hope  given  to  the 
initiated  in  the  secret  nocturnal  rites  of  Eleusis.  It  was  in- 
timately connected  with  the  agricultural  deities,  Demeter  the 
Earth  Mother,  Persephone  the  Maiden,  iher  daughter,  Tripto- 
lemus,  the  boy-god,  and  Eubouleus,  the  divine  swineherd. 
The  beautiful  mythological  representation  of  the  doctrine  in 
the  story  of  Persephone,  who  was  carried  off  by  Hades  to  be 
his  bride  in  the  underworld  while  she  was  gathering  flowers, 
and  then  at  her  mother's  powerful  intercession  was  granted  as 
a  compromise  the  liberty  to  return  to  earth  for  half  the 
year,  is  visibly  a  parable  of  summer  and  winter.  It  seems 
that  current  Greek  theology  so  far  as  it  related  to  Death  was 
founded  on  naturalistic  observation  of  the  revival  of  the  seasons 
and  the  rebirth  of  the  crops.  This  theology  was  strongest 
across  the  water  in  Asia  Minor,  in  its  connection  with  the 
worship  of  Adonis. 

Nevertheless,  belief  in  immortality  was  not  in  Greece  any 
more  than  it  is  with  us  strong  enough  to  assuage  the  sting  of 
Death  or  to  enable  the  Greeks  to  dispense  with  the  formalities 
of  funerals.  The  Athenians  practised  the  usual  rites  of 
mourning  with  professional  musicians  and  dirge-singers,  black 
clothes,  women  tearing  their  hair  and  beating  their  breasts. 
All  this  was  and  is  inevitable,  but  the  public  sense  of  Greece 
continually  demanded  decency  and  reserve  in  the  presence  of 
190 


BttgUth  PhoH  Co..  A  thins 


Plate  59.  THE  MOURNING  ATHENA 
(See  pp.  160  and  192) 


[ A  190 


THE  GRAND  CENTURY 
Death.  Solon's  old  laws  attempt  to  limit  funeral  displays.  The 
Spartan  system  was  very  rigorous  on  the  point,  and  there  the 
women  were  held  in  such  discipline  that  the  death  of  a  warrior 
on  the  field  of  battle  was  sometimes  even  actually  received 
with  patriotic  rejoicing  by  the  women  of  his  family. 

Our  archaeological  museums  are  much  indebted  to  the 
practice  of  burying  with  the  deceased  the  objects  of  his  use 
in  life.  An  athlete  would  have  the  strigil,  with  which  he 
scraped  off  the  dust  and  oil  of  the  arena,  buried  in  his  tomb ; 
a  lady  would  have  her  mirror,  in  its  chiselled  copper  case,  or 
her  "  pyxis"  (jewel-box).*  Most  of  the  little  terra-cotta  figures 
in  our  museums  come  from  the  tombs.  Some  of  them  were 
children's  toys:  often  the  figures  seem  to  have  been  deliberately 
broken  before  interment.  Among  the  most  beautiful  of  such 
relics  of  the  tomb  are  the  funeral  oil-jars,  or  lecythi,  of  the 
fifth  and  early  fourth  centuries.  They  were  specially  painted  for 
the  purpose,  as  we  can  perceive  by  their  choice  of  funereal 
subjects,  and  they  are  of  a  distinct  type  of  pottery.  The  usual 
vase  technique  of  the  best  period  has  its  background  painted 
with  a  rich  black  glaze  and  its  figures  left  plain  in  the  natural 
colour  of  the  terra-cotta. f  But  these  funeral  lecythi  have  the 
body  of  the  vase  covered  with  a  slip  of  white  or  cream  colour, 
and  upon  it  the  figures  and  scenes  are  painted  in  polychrome. 
In  this  way  we  have  surviving  very  rare  and  beautiful  effects 
of  colour-drawing  in  this  the  noblest  period  of  Greek  art.  The 
work  of  the  great  artists  Polygnotus  and  Zeuxis  has,  of  course, 
perished  utterly,  and  we  must  rely  on  these  little  oil-jars, 
probably  the  work  of  quite  obscure  craftsmen,  for  our  nearest 
representation  of  it.|  Here  again  we  are  amazed  at  the  effect 
produced  by  simple  means.  Even  where  the  colours  have 
faded  we  trace  a  delicacy  and  precision  of  line  in  the  drawing 
which  is  simply  astonishing.  No  artists  have  ever  done  so 
much  with  a  single  stroke  of  the  brush.  It  implies  a  wonderful 
confidence  and  mastery  of  technique. 

•  Plate  56,  Fig.  1.  t  Plate  56,  Fig.  2";  and  Vase  Plate,  Fig  3. 

X  Plate  57 ;  and  Vase  Plate,  Fig.  4. 

I91 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
Our  museums  also  contain  a  great  number  of  the  marble 
slabs,  decorated  in  high  relief,  which  formed  the  ordinary 
tombstone  of  the  Athenians  buried  in  the  cemetery  of  Cera- 
meikos,  outside  the  Dipylon  Gate  at  Athens.  A  few  of  them 
are  still  in  situ,  and  present  a  remarkable  picture  as  they 
stand.  One  of  the  most  famous  is  the  tomb  of  Hegeso,  in  the 
Athenian  Museum.  But  there  are  a  great  many  more,  less 
known  but  equally  beautiful,  both  there  and  elsewhere.  None 
of  them  are,  so  far  as  we  know,  the  work  of  named  artists. 
The  great  works  constructed  under  Pericles  and  Pheidias  on 
the  Acropolis  must  have  collected  dozens  of  competent  minor 
craftsmen  to  Athens,  and  given  them  a  noble  training  in  their 
craft.  Some  show  the  round  contours  and  delicate  drapery  of 
the  Pheidian  style,  some  the  heavy  muscularity  of  Polycleitus, 
and  some  show  the  small,  finely  poised  heads  of  the  school  of 
Lysippus. 

The  subjects  represented  on  the  lecythi  generally  depict 
some  part  of  the  funeral  rites,  and  the  sepulchral  slabs  generally 
exhibit  a  scene  of  departure,  which  is  always  treated  with 
extraordinary  dignity  and  reserve.  Not  a  lamentation  is 
uttered,  not  a  tear  falls.  Perhaps  the  gaze  of  our  athlete's 
father  is  more  searching  and  intense  than  if  it  were  a  mere 
earthly  separation  from  his  stalwart  son.  There  is,  I  think,  no 
portraiture  even  here.  If  it  is  a  woman  who  has  gone  to  her 
long  home,  she  is  sometimes  shown  putting  away  her  jewels 
for  the  journey.  On  one  archaic  relief  now  at  Rome,  a  mother, 
with  a  smile  upon  her  face,  is  placing  her  child  on  the  knees  of 
Persephone.  A  very  beautiful  one,  also  at  Rome,  bears  the 
mythological  scene  of  the  parting  between  those  types  of 
married  love  and  constancy,  Orpheus  and  Eurydice.  The  head 
of  Orpheus  is  bent  a  little,  but  Eurydice  is  smiling  farewell,  and 
the  hand  of  Hermes,  the  Escort  of  Souls,  is  very  light  upon 
her  wrist.*  Most  typical  of  all,  perhaps,  is  the  Mourning 
Athena,f  which  was  probably  a  public  memorial  of  soldiers 
fallen  in  the  wars,  since  it  was  found  built  into  a  wall  on  the 
*  Plate  5$.  t  Plate  59. 

I92 


THE  GRAND  CENTURY 
Acropolis.  It  is  strangely  simple  and  restrained.  The  goddess, 
clad  in  her  helmet,  leans  upon  her  spear,  with  head  bent  down,  to 
read  the  names  once  painted  on  a  short  pillar  which  is  part  of 
the  relief.  The  severe  lines  of  her  drapery  indicate  the  austerity 
of  the  unknown  artist's  treatment  of  his  patriotic  theme.  This 
is  the  speech  of  Pericles  in  stone.  I  have  chosen  also  two  less- 
known  monuments  from  the  Athenian  Museum  to  show  the 
Athenian  view  of  death  more  clearly.  The  dead  hero  does  not 
mourn,  but  his  humbler  friends,  like  the  Giants  and  Barbarians 
of  the  friezes,  may  express  their  emotion  visibly  and  indecently. 
Young  men  nearly  always  have  their  hounds  to  accompany 
them  upon  their  tombstones.  They  are  big  animals,  perhaps 
of  the  famed  Molossian  breed,  akin  to  our  pointers.  Their 
descendants  may  be  seen  (and  felt,  unless  the  traveller  knows  the 
local  artifice  of  sitting  down  and  pretending  not  to  be  afraid) 
on  any  upland  farm  in  Greece  to-day.  Girls  are  often  accom- 
panied by  small  pet  dogs,  curly  and  excitable.  The  big  hounds 
clearly  show  dejection  in  every  line.*  Commentators  tell  us 
that  the  cat  {Felis  domesticus)  was  not  kept  as  a  pet  in  Greece, 
but  what  is  that  headless  animal  upon  the  shelf,  if  not  the 
primeval  cat  imported  from  Egypt?  The  young  man  in  this 
relief  t  is  letting  his  doves  go  free.  And,  as  you  see,  the 
little  slave-boys  may  look  sorry  when  their  masters  go. 
They  are  not  Greeks  ;  they  may  express  human  emotions. 

*  Plate  60,  Fig.  1.  t  plate  60,  Fig.  2. 


N 


193 


V 


THE  FOURTH  CENTURY 

But  Greece  and  her  foundations  are 
Built  below  the  tide  of  war, 
Throned  on  the  crystalline  sea 
Of  thought  and  its  eternity. 

Shelley. 

Athens 

/S  S\HE    pre-eminence    of  Thucydides 

among  Greek  historians  has,  I  venture 
to  think,  somewhat  distorted  the  true 
perspective  of  Greek  history.  The 
absorbing  interest  with  which  we 
follow  his  account  of  the  Pelopon- 
nesian  War  to  its  close  in  the  down- 
fall of  Athens  leads  us  to  regard  all 
the  rest  of  Greek  history  with  that 
slackening  of  interest  with  which  we 
commonly  regard  a  sequel.  The  truth  is  that  Athens  rose 
from  her  knees  after  an  interval,  much  chastened,  considerably 
exhausted,  certainly  poorer,  but  with  as  much  intellectual  vigour 
and  power  of  artistic  creation  as  before.  The  Athens  that  we 
know  intimately  is  the  Athens  of  the  Restoration.  Really  we 
know  almost  nothing  of  fifth-century  Athens  but  her  external 
politics  and  the  remains  of  her  monuments.  The  restored 
Athens  is  the  city  of  Plato,  of  Demosthenes,  and  of  Praxiteles. 
She  has  still  to  be  the  mother  of  philosophy,  ethics,  oratory, 
political  science,  comedy  of  manners,  logic,  grammar,  and  the 
essay  and  the  dialogue  as  forms  of  literature.  This  is  the 
only  Athens  which  we  know  at  all  intimately  from  within. 
194 


THE  FOURTH  CENTURY 

The  Long  Walls  were  to  be  pulled  down  in  order  that 
Athens  might  be  separated  from  her  harbours  and  become  in 
fact  an  inland  city  like  Sparta  herself.  Down  they  came  to  the 
music  of  flutes,  and  Athens  consented  to  become  the  "ally" 
(euphemism  for  "humble  servant")  of  Sparta.  The  moral  of 
it  all  for  imperial  cities  would  seem  to  be:  (i)  the  precarious 
nature  of  sea-power  unless  backed  very  strongly  by  purse-power; 

(2)  the  danger  of  having  unwilling  allies  or  dependents ;  and 

(3)  the  impossibility  of  conducting  war  by  means  of  public 
debate  in  a  democratic  assembly.  On  two  occasions  near  the 
end  of  the  war  and  the  century  the  Athenians  had  tried  ex- 
periments in  constitutional  revolution.  For,  indeed,  during 
the  closing  stages  of  the  war  even  the  citizens  of  Athens  could 
see,  what  was  painfully  obvious  to  the  rest  of  the  world,  that 
she  was  not  well  governed  for  the  purposes  of  external  politics. 
Popular  institutions  exist  for  the  sake  of  popular  liberties. 
There  are  better  ways  of  maintaining  order,  if  hat  is  your 
prime  object,  and  much  better  ways  of  securing  efficiency." 
Democracy  may  "  reign  "  ;  it  cannot  "  govern  " — not,  at  any  rate, 
without  the  help  of  a  trained  bureaucracy.  Above  all,  in  the 
conduct  of  a  war  a  meeting  of  citizens  in  the  market-place  is 
the  clumsiest  deliberative  body  that  can  be  conceived.  We 
have  seen  how  ignorant  they  were  when  they  embarked  on 
the  Sicilian  expedition  without  knowing  anything  more  than 
interested  parties  chose  to  tell  them  of  the  resources  of  their 
allies  and  the  disposition  of  the  other  Sicilian  Greeks.  Be- 
sides ignorance,  they  had  shown  hasty  passion  in  condemning 
the  whole  male  population  of  Mitylene  to  death;  they  had 
been  ferociously  unjust  in  sentencing  their  admirals  to  death 
for  not  stopping  to  pick  up  the  shipwrecked  survivors  after 
the  victory  of  Arginusae.  They  had  made  childish  blunders 
in  strategy,  as  when  they  chose  three  rival  generals  to 
conduct  the  Sicilian  expedition,  and  in  statecraft  when  they 
refused  peace  and  drove  their  cleverest  citizen,  Alcibiades, 
over  to  the  side  of  the  enemy.  But  the  most  effective  argument 
of  the  oligarchic  party  was  based  on  finance.    With  the  cessation 

"95 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

of  the  tribute  from  the  allies  it  became  simply  impossible 
to  maintain  the  host  of  state  functionaries  which  democracy 
developed  and  demanded.  Further,  democracy  was,  as  we 
have  seen,  identified  with  anti-Spartan  policy;  Sparta  would 
make  no  terms  with  democracy.  And,  lastly,  when  the  brilliant 
Alcibiades  had  been  banished  by  the  democracy,  he  professed 
to  have  the  Persian  satrap,  the  universal  paymaster,  in  his  pocket, 
and  he  demanded  a  revolution  as  the  price  of  his  return.  Such 
were  the  arguments  insinuated  by  the  oligarchs.  This  party 
was  working  incessantly  in  clubs  and  secret  societies  about 
whose  methods  of  organisation  we  are  woefully  ignorant.  In 
41 1 — that  is,  two  years  after  the  failure  of  the  Sicilian  expedition 
— these  intriguers  had  their  way,  and  Athens  consented  to  try  the 
experiment  of  oligarchy  "  until  the  end  of  the  war."  Govern- 
ment henceforth  was  to  be  in  the  hands  of  a  council  of  400,  for 
government  by  council  is  the  prevailing  feature  of  oligarchy. 
But,  like  most  Greek  oligarchies,  Athens  was  also  to  have  a 
sort  of  select  Assembly,  consisting  of  5000  of  the  well-to-do 
citizens.  The  number  of  5000  seems  to  represent  the  hoplite 
body  of  the  Athenian  army.  Thus  Athens  was  imitating 
Sparta  in  limiting  citizen  rights  to  her  fully  equipped  land 
warriors,  and  excluding  the  "naval  mob"  who  were  her  real 
strength  in  war.  As  usual  in  oligarchies,  even  this  purged 
Assembly  seems  to  have  been  for  show  rather  than  for  use. 
The  government  was,  in  fact,  what  it  is  generally  called,  a 
Government  of  the  Four  Hundred.  Fortunately  for  human 
liberty  the  experiment  was  not  a  success.  It  only  lasted  for 
three  months.  The  Four  Hundred  had,  it  is  true,  come  rather 
late  upon  the  stage  if  they  were  to  bring  the  war  to  a  success- 
ful conclusion.  But  they  failed  to  do  anything  useful,  and 
their  accession  to  power  was  marked  by  a  failure  at  sea  and 
the  loss  of  Eubcea.  Assassination,  a  pleasantly  rare  weapon  in 
Greek  politics,  removed  the  leader  of  the  oligarchs,  and  Athens 
reverted  to  democracy. 

Once  more,  however,  at  the  very  end  of  the  war,  when  the 
city  surrendered.  Athens  had  perforce,  at  the  bidding  of 
196 


Plate  62.   GIRL'S  1 1  HAD   (See  p.  214) 


[/.  196 


THE  FOURTH  CENTURY 
Lysander,  her  conqueror,  to  revise  her  constitution  in  an 
oligarchic  direction.  Once  more  the  sacred  laws  were  thrown 
into  the  melting-pot,  and  there  were  elaborate  programmes, 
and  discussions  as  to  the  precise  form  of  oligarchy  which 
should  be  adopted.  But  while  the  preliminaries  were  going  on 
the  administration  fell  into  the  hands  of  a  board  of  so-called 
commissioners  charged,  like  Oliver  Cromwell,  with  the  revision 
of  the  constitution.  Like  Oliver  these  men  soon  found  them- 
selves in  a  position  of  power  too  good  to  be  lost.  They  were 
called  the  Thirty  Tyrants,  and  they  deserved  the  name.  They 
ruled  with  a  strong  hand,  banished  their  enemies,  disarmed 
the  citizen  army,  and  began  a  system  of  private  plunder,  with 
the  spears  of  the  Spartan  garrison  to  enforce  their  commands. 
Athens  never  forgot  and  never  forgave  this  nightmare  of  the 
Thirty.  Most  of  them  were  men  of  talent,  some  of  them  were 
philosophers  and  literary  men  who  had  sat  at  the  feet  of 
Socrates.  Critias,  the  Robespierre  of  the  party,  quarrelled 
with  Theramenes,  its  philosophical  Danton,  an  advocate  of 
the  "  moderate  Constitution,"  and  sent  him  to  execution. 
Before  very  long,  one  is  glad  to  know,  honest  men  (by  which 
term  one  means,  in  this  instance,  democrats)  were  gathering  on 
the  borders  of  Attica,  and  under  the  leadership  of  Thrasybulus 
won  their  way  home  and  crushed  the  "gentle  Critias"  and  his 
gang  for  ever. 

The  year  402  is  the  year  of  restored  democracy.  It  is 
called  the  archonship  of  Eucleides.  We  hear  no  more  of 
oligarchy  at  Athens.  Henceforth  she  is  a  democracy,  as 
before  and  more  so.  Where  Athenians  had  formerly  got 
cheap  corn  they  now  got  it  for  nothing.  Where  they  had 
formerly  received  a  fee  of  threepence  for  public  duties  they  now 
got  fourpence-halfpenny.  According  to  Aristotle  more  than 
20,000  persons  were  in  receipt  of  State  payment.  However 
much  business  the  company  might  transact,  the  shareholders 
were  determined  upon  one  thing — to  pay  dividends  to  one 
another,  with  a  bonus  in  exceptional  years.  It  is  hard  to  say 
where  the  dividends  came  from.    No  doubt  there  was  a  good 

197 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
deal  of  commerce  and  banking  business  at  the  Peiraeus,  mostly 
in  the  hands  of  half-naturalised  foreigners.  The  rich  were 
bled  unmercifully,  so  that  they  tended  to  emigrate  or  grow 
poor.  And  yet  in  the  fourth  century  Athens  was  steadily 
rising  in  the  political  scale.  A  glad  day  came  when  her  admiral 
Conon,  with  Persian  help,  was  able  to  rebuild  her  Long  Walls. 
She  started  a  new  maritime  league,  under  better  safeguards, 
this  time,  for  the  allies.  She  even  recovered  something  of  an 
empire.  She  could  not  afford  statues  in  ivory  and  gold,  but 
she  built  her  theatre  with  stone,  laid  out  a  stadium,  and  pro- 
duced many  charming  works  of  art.  In  short,  though  her 
ambitions  were  curtailed,  life  was  very  free  and  full,  and,  I 
believe,  very  pleasant,  in  fourth-century  Athens.  Her  states- 
men had  to  be  content  with  smaller  schemes ;  they  were  a  good 
deal  concerned  with  finance  :  indeed,  it  was  hard  work  to  make 
both  ends  meet.  Generals  complained  that  they  got  no  pay ; 
and  now  that  hired  troops  were  in  vogue  warfare  was  an 
expensive  pastime.  The  Athenians  were  rather  more  hys- 
terical than  before,  even  more  apt  to  make  Byngs  of  their 
unsuccessful  admirals.  They  talked  more  than  ever,  and  did 
rather  less.  But  on  the  whole  they  were  well  governed,  and 
they  played  a  not  unimportant  part  in  the  warfare  and  diplo- 
macy of  Greece.    The  restored  democracy  was  a  success. 

While  Athens  is  recuperating  her  strength  we  may  turn 
aside  for  a  moment  to  watch  two  other  States  make  their 
successive  attempts  to  hold  the  overlordship  of  Hellas ; 
remembering  all  the  time  that  the  northern  horizon  is  already 
dark  with  the  storm  that  is  going  to  sweep  the  whole  of 
ancient  Greece  into  political  insignificance. 

Sparta  and  Thebes 

The  first  episode  of  Greek  international  history  in  the  fourth 
century  is  a  Spartan  domination,  lasting  less  than  thirty  years, 
but  generally  considered  as  one  of  the  imperial  experiments  of 
Greece.  I  n  addition  to  her  own  permanent  hegemony  over  the 
198 


THE  FOURTH  CENTURY 
greater  part  of  Southern  and  Central  Greece,  Sparta  had  now 
stepped  into  the  uncomfortable  shoes  of  Athens,  and  found  her- 
self the  mistress  of  more  than  a  hundred  island  or  seaport 
"  cities."  Now  Sparta,  as  she  was  frequently  reminded,  had  gone 
into  the  Peloponnesian  War  as  champion  of  the  liberty  of  Hellas 
against  a  tyrant  city.  She  had  gained  the  day  partly  through 
the  virtue  of  that  charming  phrase,  but  I  doubt  whether  any- 
body seriously  expected  her  to  set  the  Ionian  cities  and  islands 
at  liberty.  They  were  not  used  to  liberty,  and  would  not  have 
known  what  to  do  with  it.  They  had  utterly  lost  the  habit  of 
fighting  or  doing  anything  but  pay  for  their  own  safety.  They 
were  too  lazy  and  broad-minded  to  care  very  much  where 
their  tribute  went.  None  of  them  had  been  enthusiastic  about 
its  previous  destination.  We  hear  of  no  bitter  lamentations 
when  they  discovered  that  Sparta  was  selling  them  whole- 
sale back  to  the  Persians.  Pharnabazus  and  Tissaphernes,  th^ 
western  satraps  of  the  Great  King,  seem  to  have  been  easy- 
going gentlemen  of  normal  Eastern  calm  and  duplicity.  They 
were  not  of  the  stamp  of  conquerors  or  despots,  but  they  had 
heaps  of  money  and  were  adepts  at  making  and  breaking 
treaties.  Sparta  both  by  geography  and  by  habit  was  an 
inland  power.  She  never  produced  more  than  one  competent 
admiral,  and  that  was  the  man  now  at  the  zenith  of  his  power, 
Lysander.  As  Sparta  had  now  inherited  a  maritime  empire, 
and  as  she  was  unable  and  unwilling  to  embark  definitely  upon 
a  naval  career,  it  became  necessary  to  organise  a  system  of 
garrisons  and  governors  in  every  city  under  her  sway.  This 
work  of  organisation  fell  to  Lysander — the  nearest  equivalent 
to  a  Caesar  that  Greece  ever  produced.  The  Spartan  empire, 
such  as  it  was,  was  Lysander's  handiwork.  Of  course  every 
state  that  came  into  Spartan  hands  was  forcibly  converted  to 
oligarchy.  This  has  often  been  represented  as  another  example 
of  Sparta's  tyranny.  But  a  survey  of  Greece  will  soon  con- 
vince us  that  oligarchy,  and  not  democracy,  is  the  normal  con- 
dition of  the  Greek  polis ;  and,  in  fact,  with  a  few  rare  excep- 
tions, it  is  only  Athens  and  the  states  directly  under  her 

199 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
influence  which  are  democracies.  But  Lysander  was  corrupt, 
and  he  entrusted  the  government  in  each  town  to  a  group  of 
local  aristocrats  who  had  won  or  purchased  his  interest.  Thus 
the  states  of  the  Spartan  empire  were  generally  governed  by  a 
Council  of  Ten,  working  hand  in  glove  with  a  Spartan  captain 
and  a  Spartan  garrison.  Athens,  as  we  have  seen,  was  also 
accustomed  to  send  garrisons  where  she  conquered.  But  all 
that  we  know  of  the  Spartan  temper  assures  us  that  the  little 
finger  of  Sparta  was  thicker  than  the  loins  of  Athens. 

Like  Pausanias  before  him,  Admiral  Lysander  became 
intoxicated  with  success.  A  very  little  liberty  and  luxury  was 
enough  to  bring  giddiness  to  the  ascetic  heads  of  Sparta. 
Lysander  began  to  think  revolutionary  thoughts  of  a  Sparta 
where  men  could  be  rich  and  free  like  the  rest  of  the  world. 
And  the  infection  spread.  Sparta  was  now  earning  a  thousand 
talents  a  year  from  her  empire,  and  though  money  was  still 
forbidden  at  home,  and  though  Sparta  had  as  yet  absolutely  no 
coinage  of  her  own,  private  Spartans  were  unquestionably 
getting  rich  quickly.  A  rich  Spartan  was  a  horrid  anomaly : 
there  was  nothing  that  money  could  buy  in  Laconia  except 
land.  Hence  family  estates  began  to  change  hands  faster,  and 
the  class  of  landless,  therefore  voteless,  men  of  Spartan  blood 
rapidly  multiplied.  It  was  Sparta's  boast  that  she  alone  in  all 
Greece  had  never  suffered  a  revolution.  She  never  came  so 
near  it  as  on  the  present  occasion,  when  Lysander  with  his 
riches  was  trying  to  subvert  the  Lycurgean  constitution  by 
bribing  the  Delphic  oracle,  and  the  discontented  Inferiors  at 
home  were  planning  a  secret  rebellion.  Both  failed:  the 
conspiracy  of  Cinadon  was  detected  by  the  vigilant  Ephors  and 
ruthlessly  crushed,  while  Lysander  in  playing  the  part  of  king- 
maker unwittingly  made  a  king  who  was  his  equal  in  ability. 
Very  soon  the  conqueror  of  Athens  found  himself  unnecessary 
to  Sparta,  and  had  to  submit  to  the  indignity  of  being  tried 
and  pardoned. 

The  new  king  was  Agesilaus,  whose  long  and  important 
career  was  the  subject  of  many  biographies.  He.  it  was  who 
200 


THE  FOURTH  CENTURY 
pointed  the  path  of  glory  to  Alexander  by  revealing  the  utter 
incapacity  of  the  Persians  to  guard  their  treasures.  For  Sparta 
had  quickly  fallen  out  with  the  satraps,  and  Agesilaus  marched 
about  the  Phrygian  and  Lydian  coasts  gathering  plunder  with 
very  little  difficulty.  One  of  the  biographers  of  Agesilaus  was 
his  friend  and  admirer  Xenophon,  who  was  concerned  in  a 
great  adventure  which  likewise  served  to  betray  the  weakness 
of  the  Persian  empire. 

The  British  schoolboy,  fleshing  his  young  teeth  upon  the 
"Anabasis"  of  Xenophon,  struggling  in  a  wilderness  of  para- 
sangs  and  paradigms  and  puzzling  out  what  Cheirisophos  said 
and  where  they  pitched  camp  that  night,  seldom  realises  the 
romantic  nature  of  the  enterprise.  There  was  a  dynastic 
struggle  in  Persia.  Cyrus,  a  bold  and  able  prince,  was  dis- 
puting the  succession  to  the  throne  with  the  rightful  successor, 
Artaxerxes.  Knowing  the  weakness  of  his  native  troops, 
Cyrus  conceived  the  idea  of  stiffening  them  with  ten  thousand 
hired  Greeks,  for  by  now  the  use  of  mercenaries  was  growing 
more  frequent  in  the  Greek  world.  These  troops  were  mostly 
Spartans,  their  leader  was  Clearchus,  a  Spartan,  and  Xenophon 
of  Athens  was  a  volunteer  under  his  command.  They  were 
recruited  without  knowing  the  full  nature  of  the  enterprise,  and 
it  was  only  when  they  found  themselves  in  the  heart  of  Asia 
that  they  learnt  to  their  horror  that  the  objective  was  the  far- 
distant  capital.  At  length  they  reached  Cunaxa,  near  Babylon, 
where  a  mighty  host  opposed  their  advance.  In  the  battle 
Cyrus  was  killed  and  the  native  portion  of  his  troops  fled  or 
surrendered  or  were  slain.  But  the  Greeks  had  fought  so 
valiantly  that  the  victorious  army  of  Artaxerxes  did  not  care 
to  attempt  their  capture,  though  the  crafty  Tissaphemes 
succeeded  in  assassinating  their  leaders  and  leading  the  army 
astray  into  the  wilderness.  Thus  the  Ten  Thousand  found  them- 
selves stranded  in  a  hostile  country,  without  generals  and  with- 
out guides,  nearly  two  thousand  miles  from  home.  But  being 
Greeks,  with  a  proper  contempt  for  the  barbarian,  they  scorned 
to  lose  heart,  though  the  chance  of  a  safe  return  must  have 

201 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

seemed  hopeless.  The  strong  political  instinct  of  the  city-state 
was  their  salvation.  They  resolved  themselves  into  a  wander- 
ing polis,  held  assemblies,  made  speeches,  elected  generals,  with 
Xenophon  among  them,  and  preserved  perfect  self-control  and 
discipline.  So  began  the  Catabasis,  an  immense  and  dangerous 
march  north-westward,  through  the  passes  of  the  Taurus  and 
the  uplands  of  Armenia,  fighting  the  wild  Kurds  of  the  hills, 
struggling  with  cold  and  hunger,  utterly  ignorant  of  geography 
except  for  the  belief  that  if  they  went  on  long  enough  in  the 
same  direction  they  would  some  day  reach  the  sea.  Their 
glad  cry  of  "Thalassa!  Thalassa!"  when  at  last  they  saw  the 
shining  waters  of  the  Euxine  is  a  cry  that  has  echoed  through 
the  ages.  Henceforth  they  were  passing  through  the  series  of 
Greek  colonies  that  fringed  the  south,  coast  of  the  Black  Sea. 
Though  many  more  adventures  awaited  them  and  they  were 
seldom  very  welcome  visitors,  yet  no  fewer  than  six  thousand 
came  safely  back  to  Greece.  Not  so  much  the  fighting  as 
the  courage  of  the  march  and  the  sense  of  discipline  make 
this  one  of  the  finest  exploits  in  Greek  history. 

As  for  Xenophon,  he  retired  to  spend  his  leisure  and  his 
money  close  to  his  beloved  Sparta.  Purchasing  an  estate  near 
Olympia,  he  devoted  his  veteran  days  to  literature  and  sport. 
His  life  in  Triphylia  is  a  picture  of  the  retired  sporting  colonel 
of  religious  and  aristocratic  tendencies.  He  regards  his  estate 
as  a  stewardship  for  the  goddess  Artemis.  He  builds  her  a 
shrine,  an  altar  with  a  statue  of  cypress-wood  modelled  on  the 
temple  and  golden  statue  of  Ephesus.  Hard  by  was  a  river 
full  of  fish,  and  an  orchard,  with  pasture-lands  and  upland  game 
preserves,  abounding  in  wild  boars,  gazelles,  and  deer.  Every 
year  he  gave  a  sacrifice  to  the  goddess,  and  invited  his  neigh- 
bours to  the  feast.  There  would  be  barley  porridge,  wheaten 
loaves,  and  sweetmeats.  Game  had  previously  been  supplied 
by  a  day's  hunting  on  a  large  scale,  in  which  Xenophon's  sons 
conducted  the  operations  and  all  the  neighbours  took  part  if 
they  liked. 

Xenophon  is  one  of  the  most  accomplished  and  versatile  of 

202 


PIG.  I.    BEAD  OF  A  YOUTH 
(See  p.  215) 


MansfllSr  Co. 

FIG.  2.     WINGED  HEAD  OF  HYPNOS 

(See  p.  220)  [/.  202 

Plate  64 


THE  FOURTH  CENTURY 

minor  writers.  He  wrote,  besides  his  "  Anabasis,"  a  treatise  on 
hunting,  with  valuable  information  on  the  breeding  of  horses 
and  hounds;  he  wrote  memoirs  of  his  beloved  but  little  com- 
prehended master  in  philosophy,  Socrates,  who  had  been  put 
to  death  at  Athens  while  Xenophon  was  on  his  expedition ;  he 
wrote  also  perhaps  the  earliest  European  work  of  prose  fiction, 
in  which  he  sketched  the  proper  training  of  a  prince  and  a 
gentleman,  under  the  title  of  "The  Education  of  Cyrus";  he 
wrote  a  history  of  Greece  beginning  where  Thucydides  left  off 
and  ending  with  the  downfall  of  Sparta ;  among  his  minor  works 
are  treatises  on  finance,  on  the  duties  of  a  captain  of  horse,  and 
a  glowing  panegyric  on  the  Spartan  constitution.  An  equally 
warm  indictment  of  the  Athenian  democracy  is  falsely  ascribed 
to  his  pen.  He  was  an  aristocrat  and  philo-Laconian  by 
sympathy,  and  the  democracy  of  Athens  had  earned  his  dis- 
pleasure by  slaying  Socrates  and  by  banishing  himself.  That 
was  only  natural,  seeing  that  he  had  taken  Spartan  service  in 
the  field  against  her,  and  she  seems  very  generously  to  have 
allowed  him  to  return  home  before  the  end  of  his  life.  In  his 
versatile  intelligence,  his  cosmopolitan  habits  as  a  soldier  of 
fortune,  in  his  youthful  enthusiasm  for  philosophy,  and  in  the 
journalistic  spirit  which  prompted  him  to  write  pamphlets 
on  any  topic  which  interested  him,  no  less  than  in  his  dislike  of 
democracy,  Xenophon  is  perhaps  the  most  characteristic  figure 
of  the  fourth  century,  though  he  is  too  military  and  too  con- 
servative to  be  a  typical  Athenian  of  any  age. 

Greece  did  not,  of  course,  enjoy  peace  during  the  thirty 
years  of  Spartan  predominance.  It  could  never  be  said  at  any 
point  of  Greek  history  that  the  land  had  rest  forty  years. 
There  was  fighting  in  Asia  Minor  against  the  Persians,  and 
fighting  in  Greece  round  the  Isthmus,  a  tiresome  and  lengthy 
struggle  with  discontented  allies,  generally  called  the  Corinthian 
War.  We  cannot  get  a  clear  conception  of  the  life  of  a  Greek 
state  unless  we  realise  that  peace  was  an  abnormal  condition. 

During  the  period  of  which  we  are  speaking  there  had  been 
some  important  developments  in  the  art  of  war.    As  the  soldier 

203 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
is  the  most  conservative  of  men  with  the  exception  of  the 
priest,  so  next  to  religion  warfare  is  the  most  conservative  of 
human  activities.  Field  tactics  had  altered  little  since  the 
Persian  wars.  A  Greek  battle  still  depended  on  the  shock  of 
two  lines  of  hoplites,  largely  a  question  of  weight  in  impact. 
If  you  could  once  cut  your  opponent's  line  the  victory  was 
yours,  because  then  you  found  his  right  or  shieldless  side  open 
to  your  spear.  A  Greek  soldier  with  his  heavy  shield  on  his 
left  arm  could  only  defend  his  front  and  left.  For  this  purpose 
the  men  stood  shoulder  to  shoulder  in  a  line  made  as  deep  as 
possible,  for  the  sake  of  weight  in  the  scrimmage,  and,  I  fear, 
to  prevent  the  Greek  disorder  of  running  away. 

It  was  the  secret  of  Spartan  pre-eminence  in  war  that  a 
Spartan  hoplite  never  thought  of  running  away.  But  now  in 
this  fourth  century  we  enter  upon  a  scientific  age  when  men 
are  beginning  to  apply  their  reason  logically  to  all  the  activities 
of  life  instead  of  trusting  to  habit.  Soldiering,  as  in  the  case 
of  the  Ten  Thousand,  is  passing  over  from  amateur  patriots  to 
mercenary  professionals.  It  is  clear  that  if  new  ideas  are  to 
revolutionise  the  art  of  war,  the  supremacy  of  Sparta  is  doomed. 
Strong  arms  and  thick  skulls  flourished  in  the  vale  of  Eurotas. 
Sparta  had  a  rude  shock  when  an  Athenian  condottiere  named 
Iphicrates  cut  up  a  Spartan  company  of  hoplites  with  a  new- 
fangled battalion  of  his  own  training,  a  body  of  drilled  light 
infantry.  And  now  in  the  fullness  of  time  Bceotia  was  to  pro- 
duce its  man  of  genius — Epaminondas  the  Theban. 

In  378  Sparta  had  sold  the  Ionian  cities  back  to  the  Great 
King,  who  sent  down  from  Susa  a  beautiful  treaty  saying, 
"  King  Artaxerxes  thinks  it  just  that  Asia  Minor  and  the 
Ionian  islands  shall  belong  to  him,  and  that  the  rest  of  the  cities 
of  Greece,  both  great  and  small,  shall  be  independent."  That 
was  really  the  end  of  Sparta's  dream  of  an  oversea  empire. 
She  had  found  it  too  fatiguing  for  a  land  power.  Armed  with 
this  treaty,  she  began  to  run  amuck  among  hei  neighbours. 
She  assailed  the  Arcadian  city  of  Mantinea  and  tore  it  up  into 
villages.  One  of  her  captains  marching  past  Athens  made  a 
204 


THE  FOURTH  CENTURY 

dash  for  Peiraeus,  but  was  fortunately  foiled.  Another  had 
played  the  same  trick  on  Thebes,  this  time  successfully,  for  he 
seized  and  garrisoned  the  citadel.  His  outrageous  performance 
was  approved  at  home,  but  it  seems  at  last  to  have  roused  the 
sluggish  spirit  of  the  dwellers  in  the  Boeotian  marshes.  There 
was  a  delightfully  romantic  conspiracy  organised  from  Athens, 
and  a  body  of  Theban  patriots  liberated  their  city.  Among 
the  patriots] was  Pelopidas,  a  brave  and  skilful  soldier,  and  his 
friend  was  Epaminondas,  one  of  the  greatest  men  in  all 
history. 

Two  qualities,  in  addition  to  the  ordinary  human  virtues 
of  courage  and  wisdom,  seem  to  distinguish  Epaminondas :  he 
showed  originality  even  in  the  art  of  war,  and  he  had  the  broad 
mental  vision  which  we  demand  from  statesmen  but  seldom 
find  in  Greeks.  I  do  not  see  any  proof  that  he  possessed  the  full 
spirit  of  Panhellenism ;  he  was  emphatically  a  Theban  first,  what- 
ever he  might  be  afterwards.  But  he  had,  it  seems,  an  eye  for  an 
international  situation.  It  is  the  measure  at  once  of  his  success 
and  of  his  failure  that  the  rise  and  fall  of  Thebes  is  exactly 
conterminous  with  the  rise  and  death  of  Epaminondas. 

Thebes  and  Athens  had  both  suffered  from  the  wanton 
aggression  of  Sparta.  They  now  made  common  cause  to 
avenge  it,  and  at  the  battle  of  Leuctra  (371)  Sparta  suffered 
defeat  in  a  pitched  land  battle  on  a  great  scale  for  the  first 
time  in  her  history.  The  victory  of  Thebes  was  wholly  due  to 
the  new  tactics  of  Epaminondas.  He  had  formed  a  Theban 
corps  (Pe'lite,  composed,  in  a  fashion  strikingly  characteristic  of 
the  Greek  mind,  of  150  pairs  of  lovers  sworn  to  conqueror  die 
together.  Thus  he  pressed  into  his  service  the  only  romantic 
feeling  which  the  Greeks  understood,  the  relation  between  David 
and  Jonathan  or  between  Achilles  and  Patroclus.  This  Sacred 
Band  formed  the  front  of  the  left  wing.  Further,  whereas  the 
whole  Spartan  line  was  drawn  up  as  usual  with  a  uniform 
depth  of  twelve  spears,  Epaminondas  made  his  left  fifty  deep 
and  flung  it  forward  in  the  attack.  The  extra  weight  of  this 
deep  wing  broke  the  Spartan  right.    King  Cleombrotus  and 

205 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

a  thousand  Spartans  were  slain.  The  loss  of  men  was  serious 
for  a  little  state  like  Sparta,  but  the  loss  in  prestige  was  even 
worse.  This,  in  Xenophon's  story,  is  how  the  news  came  to 
Sparta :  "  It  chanced  to  be  the  last  day  of  the  Boys'  Gymnastic 
Festival,  and  the  choir  of  men  were  therefore  at  home.  When 
the  Ephors  heard  of  the  disaster  they  were  sorely  grieved,  as 
in  my  dpinion  was  bound  to  be  the  case,  but  they  did  not  send 
the  men's  choir  out  or  stop  the  games.  They  communicated 
the  names  of  the  fallen  to  their  relatives,  but  they  warned  the 
women  to  bear  their  loss  in  silence  and  not  to  make  lamenta- 
tion. So  next  day  you  could  see  the  families  of  the  slain  going 
about  in  public  with  cheerful,  smiling  faces,  but  as  for  those 
whose  menfolk  had  been  announced  as  living,  they  went  about 
in  gloom  and  shame."  So  Lacedaemon  set  itself  with  dogged 
resolution  to  endure  what  the  gods  might  send. 

Epaminondas  with  true  insight  determined  to  raise  up 
a  counterbalancing  power  in  the  Peloponnesus  to  hang  upon  the 
flank  of  Sparta  if  she  should  ever  again  try  to  tyrannise  over 
Greece.  His  plan  was  to  form  city-states  among  the  Arcadians 
and  Messenians,  those  backward  children  of  Nature  who  had 
always  preferred  a  village  life  among  their  hills.  Mantinea 
was  restored  to  the  rank  of  a  state,  Messenia  was  given  a  new 
capital,  and  a  new  and  splendid  city  was  specially  constructed 
to  unite  several  scattered  Arcadian  villages  in  one  interesting 
federal  constitution.  But  the  Great  City,  as  she  was  proudly 
named,  was  not  a  great  success.  Perhaps  the  Arcadians  were 
too  arcadian  in  their  habits  to  fulfil  the  scheme  of  Epaminondas. 
It  is  very  characteristic  of  the  Greek  mind  that  the  news 
of  Theban  triumph  was  very  ill  received  in  the  city  of  her  ally 
Athens.  Athens  might  cherish  a  respectable  hereditary  feud 
with  Sparta,  but  Thebes  she  had  always  detested.  Thebes  was 
her  next-door  neighbour.  Though  you  might  have  to  fight  a 
Spartan,  you  couldn't  help  liking  him.  Once  again  the  orators 
drew  upon  that  inexhaustible  precedent  of  the  Persian  wars, 
when  Sparta  and  Athens  had  stood  together  against  Thebes 
and  Persia.  So  Athens  was  persuaded  to  draw  away  from 
206 


THE  FOURTH  CENTURY 

Thebes  and  form  an  alliance  upon  equal  terms  with  Sparta. 
But  her  action  was  not  very  vigorous. 

The  nine  years  between  the  battles  of  Leuctra  and  Mantinea 
are  commonly  described  by  historians  as  a  period  of  Theban 
hegemony.  It  is  true  that  Thebes  was  probably  on  land  the 
most  powerful  state  in  Greece,  and  that  Epaminondas  played 
the  foremost  part  in  the  diplomacy  of  that  period,  but  she  had 
no  great  following  of  states,  and  as  Athens,  Sparta,  and  Corinth 
were  among  those  who  declined  to  follow  she  can  hardly  be 
said  to  have  led  Greece.  Also  it  is  interesting  to  notice  that 
the  liberal-minded  Epaminondas  found  it  just  as  impossible  as 
Athens  and  Sparta  had  done  to  hold  a  Greek  alliance  together 
without  the  use  of  garrisons.  He  sent  harmosts  into  Achaia 
and  Sicyon.  Thebes  also  was  as  ready  as  Sparta  to  interfere 
with  constitutions.  We  can  understand  Sparta,  with  her 
aristocratic  habits,  showing  a  prejudice  for  oligarchy,  or  Athens, 
the  city  of  liberty  and  free  speech,  encouraging  democracy,  but 
that  Thebes,  herself  oligarchically  constituted,  should  now 
enforce  democracy  upon  her  allies  can  only  be  a  piece  of  cold- 
blooded diplomacy  due  to  the  knowledge  that  oligarchies  were 
generally  committed  to  the  Spartan  side.  Nor  can  Thebes  be 
acquitted  of  trafficking  with  the  enemy.  For  Pelopidas  was 
sent  to  Susa  to  plead  the  ancient  alliance  of  Thebes  and  Persia 
at  the  battle  of  Plataeal  In  these  three  respects  all  the 
hegemonies  of  Greece  are  alike,  all  tarred  with  the  same 
brush. 

Thebes  tried  to  kill  the  snake  she  had  scotched  at  Leuctra. 
Several  times  she  started  to  smoke  out  the  Spartan  nest. 
Twice  she  penetrated  the  inviolable  precincts  of  Sparta,  but 
each  time  when  she  looked  into  the  streets  of  the  unwalled  city 
and  saw  the  Spartan  warriors  standing  at  arms  before  their 
temples  and  hearths,  she  only  looked — and  found  more  pressing 
business  elsewhere.  Let  one  chronicler  at  least  decline  to  quit 
that  sinking  ship.  The  foolish  Arcadians  might  brag  of  their 
ancient  descent  as  children  of  the  soil ;  but  the  Spartans, 
under  their  old  lion  Agesilaus,  could  still  scatter  Arcadians 

207 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

with  the  wind  of  their  spears  in  a  "Tearless  Battle,"  wherein 
not  a  single  Spartan  perished. 

So  we  come  to  the  last  great  fight  of  this  epoch — that  of 
Mantinea.  Here  Spartans  and  Athenians  fought  on  the  same 
side  against  Thebes.  The  Theban  tactics  were  the  same  pre- 
cisely as  at  Leuctra,  and  the  Spartans  had  learnt  nothing  by  the 
experience.  They  saw  the  line  advancing  en  tchelon,  they  saw 
the  deepened  left  wing,  and  they  took  no  steps  to  counteract  it. 
As  before,  they  were  broken  and  routed.  But  in  the  hour  of 
defeat  a  chance  spear  found  its  billet  in  the  body  of  Epami- 
nondas,  and,  like  Wolfe  on  the  Heights  of  Abraham,  that  hero 
fell  in  the  hour  of  victory.  When  he  heard  that  the  two  men 
he  had  hoped  for  as  his  successors  had  also  fallen  he  cried  to 
his  followers  to  make  peace  with  Sparta,  and  so  expired.  The 
star  of  Thebes  waned  with  his  death;  and,  indeed,  all  the 
fires  of  the  Greek  firmament  soon  paled  before  the  rising 
sun  of  Macedonia — and  Philip  had  learnt  warfare  from 
Epaminondas. 

Fourth-century  Culture 

In  the  fourth  century — or  rather  in  that  earlier  half  of  it 
which  forms  the  theme  of  the  present  chapter — Greek  art  pur- 
sues its  inevitable  course  of  development.  Perhaps  the  wasting 
influence  of  the  Peloponnesian  War,  that  most  wasteful  and 
unsatisfactory  contest,  had  brought  a  touch  of  disillusionment 
upon  the  high  ideals  and  youthful  hopes  with  which  the  Grand 
Century  had  set  forth.  Perhaps  there  may  be  something  in 
the  racial  theory,  which  holds  that  the  vigorous  Northern  strain 
was  beginning  to  succumb  to  the  influence  of  a  Southern  climate, 
while  the  artistic  temperament  native  to  the  South  was  re- 
asserting itself  and  disturbing  the  equilibrium  between  clever 
and  brave.  But  it  may  have  been  simply  the  working  of  some 
law  of  Nature  that  all  arts  pass  from  the  phase  of  earnest 
endeavour  to  that  sense  of  triumphant  mastery  which  so 
fatally  entices  into  luxuriance.  In  sculpture  I  think  we  shall 
see  that  it  was  thus  with  Greece.  There  is  unquestionably  in 
208 


THE  FOURTH  CENTURY 
the  fourth  century  some  slackening  of  purpose,  some  loss  of 
ideals,  some  tendency  in  the  direction  of  prettiness  and  languor. 

But  we  must  not  yet  begin  to  speak  of  degeneration.  The 
Hermes  of  Praxiteles  and  the  "  Republic  "  of  Plato  are  not  works 
of  decadence.  Some  modern  historians  are  rather  vulture-like 
in  their  scent  for  decay.  They  show  an  unseemly  gusto  in 
tracing  the  causes  of  decline  and  fall  of  states,  so  that  they 
begin  the  post-mortem  long  before  the  breath  is  out  of  their 
patient.  Greece  of  the  fourth  century  is  still  very  active  and 
vigorous,  still  improving  the  old  arts  and  inventing  new  ones. 
Fourth-century  Athens  is  far  too  like  twentieth-century 
England  for  an  Englishman  to  feel  quite  comfortable  in  using 
the  term  "degeneration"  of  her. 

In  politics,  for  example,  she  was  beginning  to  make  things 
much  less  comfortable  for  the  rich.  With  taxes  upon  unearned 
increment  she  was  beginning  to  drive  capital  out  of  the  country, 
so  that  millionaires  could  no  longer  be  found  to  undertake 
single-handed  the  "liturgy"  of  equipping  a  battleship,  but 
had  to  be  grouped  in  companies  for  the  purpose.  Statesmen,  too, 
were  throwing  off  the  dignified  reticence  of  the  old  regime,  to 
parade  the  most  sordid  financial  considerations,  and  to  set  class 
against  class,  by  reminding  the  poor  how  much  nicer  it  would 
be  if  they  were  rich.  Even  more  was  done  for  the  poor  now 
than  formerly ;  they  were  taught  to  look  to  the  State  for  cheap 
food,  and  even  free  education.  The  principle  of  payment  of 
members  was  introduced.  Conservatives  were  alarmed  by  the 
growing  numbers  of  state  functionaries  openly  drawing  salaries 
from  the  Treasury  for  the  duties  which  they  performed,  instead 
of  leaving  those  duties  to  be  neglected,  or  expecting  the  ricli 
to  perform  them  in  their  spare  time  and  recoup  themselves  in 
less  odiously  public  fashions.  In  international  relations  there 
was  some  abatement  of  nationalist  frenzy;  in  colonial  systems 
there  was  a  marked  advance  in  the  direction  of  federalism, 
accompanied  by  a  devolutionary  process  towards  local  govern- 
ment. In  the  theatre  there  was  a  movement  towards  lighter 
entertainments  and  highly  elaborate  musical  comedies,  with 

o  209 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

lavish  display  in  the  matter  of  dress  and  scenery.  Favourite 
chorus-girls  made  large  incomes,  and  sometimes  married  very 
respectably  indeed.  In  sport,  too,  there  was  a  growing 
tendency  to  professionalism,  much  deplored  by  old-fashioned 
people.  Boxers  and  wrestlers  no  longer  considered  the  grace 
of  their  movements,  because  they  found  that  victory  was  apt  to 
follow  more  consistently  upon  hard  training  and  an  animal 
diet.  In  literature,  as  we  shall  presently  see  more  fully,  poetry 
was  beginning  to  yield  to  prose,  and  prose  was  becoming  more 
businesslike  and  scientific.  In  social  life  thinkers  were  begin- 
ning to  raise  the  problem  of  sex,  and  even  women  themselves 
may  have  joined  in  the  agitation  for  some  measure  of  justice  for 
their  sex.  Euripides,  indeed,  who  is  rather  apt  to  go  further  than 
modern  delicacy  permits  in  his  treatment  of  social  problems,  had 
actually  made  his  Medea  utter  these  audacious  words :  "  I  would 
rather  stand  thrice  in  the  line  of  battle  than  bear  a  child  once." 

If  we  had  to  sum  up  the  new  characteristic  of  the  fourth 
century  under  a  single  phrase,  we  should  perhaps  be  justified 
in  saying  that  the  professional  spirit  was  making  itself  felt  in 
all  directions.  We  see  it  in  the  military  art,  where  the  citizen 
hoplites,  with  their  extremely  simple  tactics  and  strategy, 
are  yielding  to  trained  bands  under  professional  captains. 
The  statesmen  are  now  no  longer  the  famous  generals  of  the 
day,  nor  men  marked  out  by  birth  and  wealth  for  high  posi- 
tion, but  trained  speakers,  and  often  professional  pleaders. 
Literature  is  no  longer  in  the  hands  of  men  like  .^Lschylus 
and  Sophocles,  who  were  soldiers  or  generals  as  well,  though 
Xenophon  is  of  course  a  notable  example  of  the  writer  who  takes 
literature  among  his  other  activities.  But  now  there  are  pro- 
fessional sophists  teaching  oratory  and  various  literary  arts. 
Books  circulate  freely,  schools  of  professional  philosophers 
arise,  as  in  Plato's  garden  of  the  Academy.  This  specialisation 
naturally  involves  an  increased  attention  to  technical  processes, 
a  more  scientific  and  less  human  outlook,  and  a  growth  of  self- 
consciousness.  For  example,  it  is  now  that  constitutional 
histories  begin  to  be  written.    While  people  are  young  and 

210 


.a  i  k  68.   MELEAGER:  HEAD,  AFTER  SCOPAS  [/.  aio 

(See  p.  218) 


THE  FOURTH  CENTURY 

strong  they  are  apt  to  take  their  constitutions  for  granted. 
Greece  is  now  grown  to  full  stature,  and  beginning  to  grow 
introspective  and  emotional. 

The  public  taste  has  changed  somewhat  in  matters  of  art. 
The  impoverished  States  of  the  fourth  century  no  longer  lavish 
their  wealth  upon  glorious  temples,  and  sumptuous  statues  in 
ivory  and  gold.  Private  dedications  occupy  more  of  the 
artist's  time,  and  though  the  subjects  are  still  of  a  religious 
and  ideal  character,  yet  the  gods  have  become  a  great  deal 
more  human.  Herein  we  may  probably  see  the  influence  of 
Euripides.  The  heroes  of  the  epic  cycle  no  longer  possessed 
much  interest  for  their  own  sake.  Jason  and  Medea  only 
raised  for  Euripides  an  absorbing  problem  in  matrimonial 
relations.  So  the  Apollos  and  Aphrodites  of  the  fourth  century 
are  as  human  as  the  Madonnas  and  St.  Sebastians  of  the  six- 
teenth. Psychology  intrudes  upon  art.  Allegorical  imper- 
sonations begin  to  be  popular  among  the  subjects  of  statuary. 
Human  portraiture  also  begins,  though  slowly,  to  be  practised 
with  some  realism.  Nudity  in  sculpture,  which  had  hitherto 
been  mainly  confined  to  athletic  works,  where  it  is  obviously 
appropriate  and  necessary,  is  now  extended  even  to  images  of 
deities,  and  under  the  chisel  of  Praxiteles  Aphrodite  uncovers 
her  loveliness  and  modesty.  Eros,  too,  her  son  and  tormentor, 
becomes  a  popular  type,  not  yet  as  the  chubby  babe  of  Grasco- 
Roman  times,  but  as  an  "ephebus,"  almost  full-grown,  with  long 
wings  upon  his  shoulders.  Hermes,  as  we  have  already  re- 
marked, begins  to  replace  the  more  vigorous  Apollo  as  the 
youthful  type  of  celestial  beauty.  Nevertheless  this  growing 
worship  of  human  grace  has  not  yet  suffered  any  visible  taint 
of  sensuality.  Whether  or  not  it  leads  that  way  is  a  question 
for  the  future  to  decide,  but  Greek  art  has  not  yet  lost  its 
reticence  and  dignity. 

Sculpture 

Meanwhile  the  artist  has  improved  enormously  in  the 
technical  details  of  craftsmanship.  It  was  now  only  a  foreign 
potentate  who  could  give  commissions  for  statues  in  such 

211 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

splendid  materials  as  were  at  the  disposal  of  Pheidias.  Bronze 
was  still  the  ordinary  material  for  important  works,  but  marble, 
which  had  formerly  been  chiefly  used  for  ornament  in  archi- 
tecture, was  now  commonly  employed  for  statues  even  by  the 
great  masters.  With  more  serviceable  tools  for  drilling, 
sawing,  and  pointing  (where  that  rather  mechanical  process 
was  employed),  the  great  artists  of  the  fourth  century  could 
play  upon  marble  as  if  it  were  wax  or  clay.  They  could  repre- 
sent textures  and  surfaces  by  the  degree  of  their  finish,  so  that 
the  leather  of  the  shoe  is  of  a  surface  distinct  from  the 
skin  of  the  foot  in  the  Hermes  of  Praxiteles.  There  is  an 
extremely  subtle  contrast  between  the  leopard-skin  and  the 
flesh  of  the  young  Satyr  by  the  same  artist  in  the  admirable 
torso  copy  which  is  in  the  Louvre.  Whereas  earlier  artists 
had  tried  to  represent  hair  by  grooves  gouged  out  upon  the 
surface  of  the  head  or  by  rendering  each  tress  as  a  separate 
thread,  Praxiteles  discovered  the  marvellous  impression  of 
curls  that  could  be  produced  by  roughly  blocking  out  several 
masses  and  leaving  the  play  of  light  and  deep  shadow 
to  indicate  a  surface  movable  and  alive.  New  secrets  of 
sculptural  anatomy  were  now  at  command.  Praxiteles  dis- 
covered the  value  of  that  groove  which  runs  vertically  down 
the  front  of  the  body  between  the  pectoral  and  abdominal 
muscles  on  each  side.  He  discovered  also  the  anatomical 
distinction  between  the  male  and  female  brow  in  that  ridge  of 
flesh,  known  to  artists  as  the  bar  of  Michelangelo,  which  over- 
hangs the  eyebrows.  By  setting  the  eyeballs  deeper  under  the 
brow,  and  emphasising  the  long  drooping  curve  of  the  upper 
eyelid,  the  fourth-century  artists  greatly  enhanced  their  com- 
mand of  expression  and  emotion,  transient  qualities  after  which 
the  fifth  century  had  not  greatly  cared  to  strive.  Scopas, 
indeed,  carried  this  discovery  to  the  verge  of  the  legitimate, 
for  the  few  incomplete  fragments  of  his  work  which  survive 
are  almost  theatrical  in  the  intensity  of  their  gaze.  Marble, 
of  course,  demands  methods  of  its  own  distinct  from  those  of 
metal.   It  is  due  to  the  material,  in  a  large  measure,  that  various 

212 


THE  FOURTH  CENTURY 
supports,  such  as  tree-trunks,  pillars,  and  urns,  have  to  be  in- 
troduced into  marble  statues  in  the  round.  Thus  it  became 
inevitable  to  make  the  figure  lean  frankly  upon  his  support, 
and  thus  we  get  those  graceful  reclining  attitudes  which  are 
often  cast  in  the  teeth  of  Praxiteles  as  symptomatic  of 
decadence. 

Pheidias  and  Praxiteles  are  as  pre-eminent  among  the 
names  of  ancient  sculptors  as  are  Polygnotus,  Zeuxis,  and 
Apelles  among  the  painters.  Of  the  two,  Praxiteles  was 
the  most  praised,  and  his  works  had  the  highest  value  in 
the  Roman  market.  This  being  so,  it  is  remarkable  how  little 
we  know  of  his  personality — practically  nothing  except  that  he 
was  an  Athenian,  and  was  the  son  or  brother  of  another  famous 
sculptor  called  Cephisodotus.  Plausible  stories  are  told  of  his 
relations  with  Phryne,  who  is  said  to  have  been  his  model  for 
the  Cnidian  Aphrodite.  She  is  said  further  to  have  cajoled 
him  into  giving  her  the  Eros  dedicated  at  Thespiae,  by  first 
making  him  promise  her  the  best  of  all  his  statues,  and  then 
discovering  which  he  thought  the  best  by  raising  a  false  report 
of  fire  at  his  studio.  His  period  of  activity  seems  to  have 
extended  from  about  370  to  330  B.C. 

His  three  masterpieces  were  the  Cnidian  Aphrodite,  the 
young  Satyr,  and  the  Eros  of  Thespiae,  but  we  have  a  long  list 
of  his  other  works.  Of  the  first,  Pliny  tells  us  that  it  was  the 
finest  statue  not  only  of  Praxiteles,  but  of  the  whole  world,  and 
that  many  had  made  the  voyage  to  Cnidos  expressly  to  see  it. 
He  adds  a  story  that  Praxiteles  had  made  two  figures  of 
Venus  and  offered  them  to  the  people  of  Cos  at  the  same  price. 
One  was  draped,  the  other  nude,  and  the  Coans  preferred  the 
former,  "thinking  it  austere  and  modest."  We  must  re- 
member that  naked  goddesses  were  novelties.  The  other  was 
purchased  by  Cnidos,  and  there  were  bitter  regrets  at  Cos  when 
they  found  how  much  more  celebrated  was  the  naked  Aphro- 
dite. King  Nicomedes  of  Bithynia  subsequently  offered  to 
liquidate  the  entire  national  debt  of  Cnidos,  "which  was 
immense,"  if  they  would  only  sell  him  the  statue,  but  one  is 

213 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

glad  to  learn  that  the  little  island  preferred  to  keep  both  its 
debts  and  its  goddess.  Apparently  it  was  in  her  capacity  as  a 
marine  goddess,  a  "  Notre  Dame  de  Bon  Secours  "  (Euploia), 
that  these  islanders  chose  Aphrodite,  the  foam-born,  for  their 
patroness. 

Coins  of  Cnidos  indicate  the  pose  of  the  statue  with 
sufficient  clearness  for  us  to  identify  a  Venus  in  the  Vatican 
as  a  copy  of  the  Cnidian  Aphrodite.*  Papal  decency  has  seen 
fit  to  encase  her  legs,  beginning  just  below  the  hips,  with 
drapery  constructed  of  tin.  This  would,  if  anything  could, 
impair  the  aspect  of  perfect  modesty  which  shows  in  every  line 
of  her  pose  and  expression.  She  is  not  aware  of  human 
spectators ;  there  is  no  self-conscious  prudery,  as  in  the 
abominable  Medici  Venus,  which  was  an  attempt  by  a  later  and 
baser  generation  to  imitate  the  same  type.  She  has  left  her 
robe  to  hang  over  the  tall  water-jar,  and  is  stepping  from  or 
towards  the  bath,  not  without  shrinking,  and  not  in  ignorance 
of  her  beauty.  Even  in  this  imperfect  copy  we  recognise  the 
qualities  which  made  Lucian  admire  the  statue — "  the  design 
of  the  scalp  and  forehead,  the  finely  pencilled  eyebrows,  and 
the  look  of  the  eyes,  so  tender,  yet  so  bright  and  joyful."  He 
adds  elsewhere  that  "a  proud  smile  plays  over  her  lips."  A 
lovely  girl's  head  in  Parian  marble,  now  in  the  Glyptothek  at 
Munich,  appears  to  me  so  clearly  to  resemble  a  younger  sister 
of  the  same  goddess  that  it  must  bear  some  relation  to  an 
original  by  Praxiteles.^  ^ 

The  Capitoline  Gallery  also  possesses  a  copy  of  the  "  Young 
Satyr"  of  Praxiteles,  "called  by  the  Greeks  irepifiotiTo?" — that 
is,  world-famed. J  Readers  of  Hawthorne  will  remember  his 
eloquent  description  of  the  "Marble  Faun,"  and  though  we, 
better  supplied  with  ancient  originals,  can  recognise  that  this 
is  only  after  (and  not  very  near)  Praxiteles,  yet  even  as  it 
stands  the  statue  has  a  peculiar  charm  and  fascination.  The 
sculptor  has  conveyed  the  impression  of  a  young  creature  of 
the  woods,  only  half  human,  shy  and  wild  as  an  animal,  and  as 
*  Plate  61,  Fig.  s».  t  Plate  63.  \  Plate  63,  Fig.  1. 

214 


Plats  70.   SCULPTURED  COLUMN  FROM  THE  TEMPLE  OF  ARTEMIS 
AT  EPHESUS   (Seep.  219)  [p. 


THE  FOURTH  CENTURY 

careless  and  happy.  His  smile  is  as  lazy  as  his  attitude.  Yet 
we  notice  the  reserve  with  which  his  animal  characteristics  are 
indicated  merely  in  the  shape  of  his  pointed  ear  and  the  "un. 
classical"  profile  of  his  face.  Not  only  is  his  weight  thrown 
upon  one  leg,  as  in  all  the  statues  by  Praxiteles,  but  the  other 
foot  is  gracefully  curled  round  it.  This  is  the  only  complete 
ancient  copy  of  the  Satyr,  but  there  is  a  mutilated  torso  in  the 
Louvre,  so  fine  in  its  finish  and  texture  that  some  critics 
suppose  it  to  be  original. 

Of  the  Eros  which  Phryne  dedicated  at  Thespiae  we  have 
no  certain  copies.  But  it  is  evident  that  many  of  the  Erotes 
in  our  galleries  were  inspired  by  that  masterpiece,  and  the 
prettiest  is  the  Eros  of  Centocelle,  a  three-quarters  figure  of 
admirable  design,  though  of  rather  slack  execution.*  I  believe 
also  that  the  bronze  head  of  a  youth  at  Naples  might  well 
trace  its  parentage  to  an  Eros  by  Praxiteles,  though  the 
languishing  craft  of  the  eyes  and  the  sensuous  fullness  of  the 
lips  are  certainly  exaggerated.! 

But  of  course  if  we  want  to  know  the  real  Praxiteles  we 
have  only  to  take  our  ticket  to  Olympia  and  worship  there  at 
the  shrine  of  Hermes.  Here  for  the  first  time  we  have  an 
unquestionable  original  work  by  the  hand  of  a  great  master. 
This  Hermes  was  found  more  than  thirty  years  ago  by  the 
German  excavators  in  the  very  temple  of  Hera  where  Pausanias 
had  seen  him.  No  copy  or  cast  or  photograph  can  do  more 
than  faintly  shadow  the  incomparable  beauty  of  the  marble. 
From  the  photograph  we  may  appreciate  the  delicacy  of  the 
whole  design,  in  which  dignity  so  marvellously  blends  with 
grace  and  strength  with  charm.J  It  is  Hermes  the  young 
Arcadian  shepherd's  patron  deity,  Hermes  the  musician  of  the 
tortoise-lyre,  the  weaver  of  guile,  the  bringer  of  luck,  and  the 
kindly  escort  of  souls  on  their  last  ferrying.  He  is  playing  in 
careless  indulgence  with  a  baby  boy,  the  infant  god  of  wine, 
but  his  eyes  and  his  gentle  smile  are  for  some  one  farther  off — 
not  the  human  spectator.    It  may  be  noted,  as  proving  that  the 

•  Plate  63,  Fig.  3.  t  Plate  64,  Fig.  1.  {  Plates  65  and  66. 

215 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

technical  triumphs  of  Greek  art  were  gained,  not  by  inspiration, 
but  by  hard  work  at  established  types,  that  the  child  is  not 
very  successfully  rendered.  Greek  sculptors  could  not  even 
yet  sufficiently  detach  themselves  from  convention  to  copy  the 
round  contours  of  a  baby's  face.  Critics  are  divided  in  their 
attempts  to  reconstruct  the  motive  of  the  raised  right  shoulder. 
Evidently  the  right  hand  held  some  object  charming  to  the 
infant  Dionysus,  a  bunch  of  grapes,  perhaps,  or  the  serpent- 
wreathed  wand  proper  to  Hermes.  As  it  stands  in  the  photo- 
graph we  can  recognise  the  loveliest  statue  in  existence,  but  we 
cannot  see  the  craft  with  which  the  surfaces  and  textures  are 
rendered.  We  do  not  know  for  certain  whether  Greek 
sculptors  of  the  fourth  century  habitually  worked  their  own 
statues  from  start  to  finish  with  their  own  hands.  We  do 
know  that  the  surface-finish  was  regarded  as  a  very  important 
part  of  the  work,  and  that  there  were  various  devices,  such  as 
wax-polishing,  employed  to  get  the  fullest  value  out  of  the 
grain  of  the  marble  for  flesh  parts.  Praxiteles  is  especially 
named  as  employing  a  colourist  to  tint  his  marble. 

In  addition  to  the  Hermes,  we  have  direct  literary  evidence 
as  to  a  great  group  of  Artemis  and  Apollo,  the  work  of 
Praxiteles,  at  Mantinea.  We  are  told  also  the  subject  of  certain 
reliefs  on  the  architectural  base  of  it,  and  reliefs  of  very  fine 
workmanship  corresponding  in  subject  have  been  excavated  at 
Mantinea.  There  is  thus  a  very  fair  presumption  that  these 
panels  were  designed,  if  not  executed,  by  the  master  who  made 
the  group.  One  slab,  here  illustrated,*  shows  the  contest 
between  Apollo  the  harper  and  Marsyas  the  semi-bestial  player 
of  that  barbarous  instrument  the  flute.  Marsyas  had  challenged 
Apollo  to  a  contest,  and  being  quite  inevitably  defeated  was 
flayed  alive  as  a  punishment  for  his  presumption.  The  penalty 
is  delicately  indicated  by  the  Phrygian  slave  who  holds  the 
knife  in  the  centre.  The  fourth-century  artists  seldom  missed 
a  psychological  point,  and  Praxiteles  has  emphasised  the  con- 
trast between  the  dignified  god  in  his  majestic  harper's  robes 

•  Plate  67. 

2l6 


THE  FOURTH  CENTURY 

and  the  naked,  violent  Satyr  distending  his  cheeks  as  flute- 
playing  barbarians  were  not  ashamed  to  do.  It  is  evident  that 
the  Marsyas  is  a  quotation  by  Praxiteles  of  the  celebrated 
figure  by  Myron.  We  note,  as  a  technical  point  in  the 
history  of  relief  sculpture,  the  effect  produced  by  the  wide 
spacing  of  the  figures.  On  the  other  slabs  are  beautiful 
though  mutilated  figures  of  the  Muses,  who  acted  as  umpires 
in  the  contest. 

We  have  copies  also  of  another  Praxitelean  original,  Apollo 
Sauroctonos  (the  Lizard-slayer),*  but  the  copyist  has  evidently 
exaggerated  almost  to  caricature  the  elegant  slimness  of  the 
young  god.  But  on  the  basis  of  our  knowledge  of  the  Hermes 
I  think  we  can  reconstruct  in  imagination  an  exquisite  statue 
even  out  of  the  effeminate  Vatican  copy.  The  true  Apollo 
would  not  lean  all  his  weight  upon  the  tree ;  consequently  the 
tilt  of  his  hips  would  be  less  violent.  His  face  would  be  much 
more  carefully  modelled,  with  less  of  that  womanish  smooth- 
ness of  contour.  But  the  copyist  has  noted  and  tried  to  ex- 
press the  lovely  brow  which  Praxiteles  gave  to  all  his  heads. 
The  careless  grace,  the  impression  of  youth  and  playful  strength 
belong  to  the  original,  and  are  highly  characteristic  of  the 
artist.  The  motive  of  the  statue  seems  to  have  been  a  new 
and  rather  bold  invention;  we  know  of  no  cult  of  a  lizard- 
slaying  Apollo.  It  is  true  that  Apollo  was  the  deity  commonly 
invoked  in  cases  of  natural  plagues,  such  as  invasions  of  field- 
mice  or  locusts,  but  it  seems  more  probable  that  Praxiteles, 
desiring  to  represent  Apollo  in  a  new  guise,  deliberately  chose 
to  portray  him  as  a  boy  at  play.  It  is  clear  that  Praxiteles  was 
a  strongly  original  and  inventive  genius,  who  was  not  afraid  to 
give  his  own  impression  of  established  types.  He  was  the 
first  who  dared  to  portray  Aphrodite  naked ;  out  of  the  gross 
and  bestial  Satyr  he  made  a  delightful  elf  of  the  woods,  and  he 
turned  the  vigorous  athlete  Apollo  into  a  slender  stripling. 

Of  Scopas  the  Parian,  the  second  great  sculptor  of  the 
fourth  century,  we  have  no  important  remains.    Two  mutilated 

♦  Plate  61,  Fig.  i. 

217 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
heads  found  on  the  site  of  the  temple  at  Tegea,  where  he  made 
his  great  pedimental  scene  of  the  Calydonian  boar-hunt,  indi- 
cate the  new  note  of  pathos  and  emotion  which  he  introduced 
into  the  carving  of  the  human  head.  We  know  that  Scopas 
was  engaged  on  the  Mausoleum  and  on  one  of  the  thirty-six 
sculptured  columns  of  the  great  temple  at  Ephesus,  but  nothing 
that  remains  from  either  of  those  buildings  can  be  ascribed  to  him 
with  certainty.  Perhaps  his  most  famous  work  was  the  Palatine 
Apollo  at  Rome.  We  may  get  the  best  notion  of  his  style  by 
studying  the  head,  not  the  body,  of  a  beautiful  statue  of 
Meleager*  at  Rome,  which  is  considered  by  the  most  com- 
petent archaeologists  to  be  a  copy  of  the  work  of  Scopas. 

,  The  third  is  Lysippus  of  Sicyon,  an  extraordinarily  prolific 
artist,  of  whose  style  we  may  form  a  very  clear  conception, 
although  we  have  no  originals.  Athletic  types  were  his 
favourite  work,  and  his  favourite  technique  was  bronze-casting. 
His  discovery  was  the  added  grace  and  beauty  which  could 
result  from  decreasing  the  proportion  of  the  head  to  the  body- 
Wherever  we  find  small  curly  heads  very  lightly  poised  upon  a 
strong,  vigorous  body  we  may  trace  the  influence  of  Lysippus. 
His  most  famous  statue  was  the  young  athlete  scraping  off  the 
oil  from  his  arm  with  the  strigil.  The  emperor  Tiberius  fell 
in  love  with  this  "  Apoxyomenus,"  as  it  is  called,  and  removed 
it  from  the  front  of  the  baths  of  Agrippa  to  his  own  bed- 
chamber, but  the  people  of  Rome  raised  such  an  outcry  that  he 
had  to  restore  it.  Modern  critics  have  shown  that  our 
"  Apoxyomenus  "  "j*  is  not  a  faithful  copy  of  this  statue.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  "  Agias  "  recently  discovered  at  Delphi  J  is 
a  contemporary  marble  copy  of  a  bronze  by  Lysippus,  and  gives 
us  a  very  fine  example  of  his  style.  Lysippus  was  also  the 
sculptor-in-ordinary  to  Alexander  the  Great,  and  we  may  trace 
to  Lysippean  originals  all  the  numerous  portraits  of  the  Mace- 
donian conqueror.  Lysippus  was  a  theorist  as  well  as  a 
practical  sculptor,  and,  like  Polycleitus,  produced  his  own 
theoretical  "Canon"  of  sculptural  proportions.  He  was  (with 
•  Plate  68.  f  Plate  so,  Fig.  a.  X  Plate  51. 

218 


iiughth  Photo  Co.,  Athws 

Plate  71.  FIGURE  of  a  youth  :  from  CERIGO        \p.  218 

(Sec  p.  220) 


THE  FOURTH  CENTURY 
the  possible  exception  of  the  Devil)  the  first  professed  im- 
pressionist, for  Pliny  records  a  saying  of  his :  "  Other  sculptors 
had  represented  men  as  they  were,  while  he  portrayed  them  as 
they  appeared  to  be." 
a  We  have  many  fine  works  of  the  fourth  century  of  unknown 
authorship.  Foremost  of  all — surely  one  of  the  six  greatest 
statues  in  the  world  *— is  the  Demeter  of  Cnidos,  in  the  British 
Museum,  a  statue  so  instinct  with  the  spirit  of  Greek  tragedy 
that  but  for  certain  technical  points  it  ought  to  belong  to  the 
fifth  century.f  This  is  Mother  Earth,  Our  Lady  of  Sorrows, 
mourning  with  sad  eyes,  but  not  in  despair,  for  her  daughter 
Persephone.  The  influence  of  Praxiteles  may  be  traced  in  her 
brow  and  lips.  The  workmanship  of  this  statue,  as  being,  with 
the  exception  of  temple  reliefs,  the  finest  Greek  original  in  our 
Museum,  deserves  careful  study.  Very  beautiful  also  is  that 
sculptured  drum  from  one  of  the  thirty-six  columns  of  the  great 
temple  of  "  Diana  of  the  Ephesians,"  another  of  the  treasures  ol 
our  Museum.J  It  is  scarcely  probable  that  time  should  have 
spared  the  one  column  which  Scopas  himself  designed,  but  we 
may  trace  some  of  his  influence  in  the  emotional  character  of  the 
faces,  and  much  of  Praxiteles  in  the  grace  of  the  attitudes  and 
the  poetry  of  the  concept.  The  application  of  relief  to  a 
rounded  surface  is  in  itself  a  work  of  great  difficulty,  and  we 
have  seen  how  boldly  it  had  been  attempted  in  the  same  temple 
by  artists  of  a  much  earlier  day.  This  is  a  funeral  scene  such 
as  might  be  represented  on  an  Attic  tombstone.  In  the  centre 
is  a  matronly  figure,  headless,  alas !  fastening  her  mantle  on 
her  shoulder  preparatory  to  the  journey;  on  her  left  is  Hermes, 
very  young  and  boyish,  extending  his  caduceus  as  if  pointing 
downwards,  but  looking  upwards  to  a  point  above  the  woman's 
head.  On  her  right  is  another  figure,  whom  from  his  long 
wings  and  boyish  form  we  should  take,  perhaps,  for  Love,  were 
it  not  that  his  sad  eyes  and  heavy  sword  mark  him  out  as  Death — 

•  My  other  five  would  be  the  Hermes  of  Praxiteles,  the  Aphrodite  of  Melos, 
the  "Theseus  "of  the  Parthenon,  the  Collconi  of  Verroccuio,  and  Rodin's  St. 
Jean-Baptiste.  t  Plate  69.  j  Plate  70. 

219 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

a  beautiful  conception  found  also  on  the  new  Ludovisi  relief  and 
on  some  of  the  Athenian  lecythi.  Some  think  that  the  woman  is 
Alcestis,  and  it  is  scarcely  likely  that  any  but  a  heroine,  at  the 
least,  would  occupy  such  a  place  in  such  a  building.  To  make 
both  these  emissaries  of  death  so  young  and  charming  is  an 
idea  typical  of  the  fourth  century,  and  especially  of  Praxiteles. 

In  many  of  the  bronzes  of  our  museums  we  can  trace  very 
clearly  the  new  influence  of  Lysippus.  A  fine  example  is  provided 
by  the  figure  of  a  youth  *  recently  dredged  up  under  romantic 
circumstances  off  the  island  of  Cythera  (Cerigo),  which  lies  at 
the  extreme  southerly  point  of  Laconia.  This  was  part  of  a 
cargo  of  spoils  from  Greece  looted  by  the  Roman  general  Sulla 
and  shipwrecked  off  Cape  Matapan.  No  satisfactory  guess 
has  yet  been  made  as  to  the  name  of  the  statue  or  the 
motive  of  its  attitude.  In  my  opinion  the  upstretched  arm 
in  readiness  to  grasp  seems  to  indicate  an  athlete  playing 
game  of  "catch."  "The  Praying  Boy,"  one  of  the  treasures 
of  Berlin,  is  a  singularly  perfect  bronze,  full  of  grace,  probably 
the  work  of  Boethos,  a  famous  sculptor  of  the  early  part 
of  the  third  century.f  The  Ludovisi  Ares!  is  a  marble 
copy  of  an  original  which  shows  unmistakable  influence  of 
Lysippus,  and  the  restful  attitude  of  the  handsome  war-god, 
so  free  from  any  trace  of  ferocity,  is  characteristic  of  the 
manner  in  which  the  fourth  century  civilised  and  humanised 
all  its  topics.  So  is  the  Rondanini  Medusa,^  a  Gorgon's 
head  translated  into  terms  of  decorative  beauty — it  might  be 
a  design  for  a  door-knocker.  The  snakes  are  there,  and 
the  chilly  glance,  but  there  is  nothing  terrible  in  the  face. 
The  lovely  winged  head,  which  originally  belonged  to  a  full- 
length  statue  of  Hypnos  (Sleep),  is  one  of  the  most  striking 
bronzes  in  the  British  Museum.  |J  It  is  clearly  related  to  the 
period  which  produced  that  figure  of  Death,  "the  brother  of 
Sleep,"  on  the  Ephesian  column.  This  example  has  been 
covered  by  exposure  to  the  air  with  a  beautiful  green  patina, 

*  Plate  71.  f  See  plate  facing  p.  266.  J  Plate  72. 

§  Plate  73,  Fig.  t.  ||  Plate  64,  Fig.  2. 

220 


Atubnm 


Plate  72.    THE  ■•  I.UDOVISI"  ARKS 
(See  p.  220) 


[/>.  220 


THE  FOURTH  CENTURY 

often  imitated  with  the  application  of  acids  by  modern  bronze- 
workers.  But  the  Herculaneum  bronzes,  which  had  been  pre- 
served for  eighteen  centuries  in  an  airproof  casing  of  lava,  are 
to-day  in  much  the  same  condition  as  when  they  left  the  studio. 
Though  they  were  made,  no  doubt,  in  Roman  times,  Lysippus 
is  again  the  artist  whose  influence  is  most  clearly  visible,  as,  for 
example,  in  the  vivid  Pair  of  Wrestlers,  or  the  Seated  Hermes. 

I  have  already  said  that  the  old  cities  of  Greece  were 
mostly  too  impoverished  to  undertake  great  architectural  works 
in  this  period.  Ephesus,  however,  had  her  great  temple  of 
Artemis  burned  down  by  an  enterprising  individual  with  the 
very  modern  ambition  of  getting  his  name  before  the  public. 
For  fear  of  increasing  his  success  I  will  not  repeat  it  here,  but 
when  Alexander  the  Great  offered  to  rebuild  the  temple  out  of 
his  own  pocket  the  Ephesians  declined,  possibly  on  the  ground 
that  their  temple  had  already  advertised  a  malefactor  and  they 
did  not  desire  it  to  be  a  further  advertisement  for  a  benefactor. 
So  they  rebuilt  it  themselves  with  such  splendour  that  it 
became  one  of  the  Seven  Wonders  of  the  world. 

Advertisement,  you  see,  was  in  the  air.  The  almost 
extreme  self-repression  of  the  individual  was  passing,  and  in 
the  same  spirit  a  wealthy  ruler  of  Caria  who  in  Greek  eyes 
was  a  tyrant  and  in  Persian  eyes  a  satrap  determined  to  raise 
a  tomb  for  himself  and  his  wife  which  should  also  be  a  wonder 
of  the  world.  His  name  was  Mausollus,  and  the  Mausoleum  he 
built  consisted  of  a  columned  shrine  raised  upon  a  lofty  pedestal 
and  surmounted  with  a  pyramidal  structure  of  ever-narrowing 
square  courses  of  masonry,  the  whole  crowned  by  a  colossal 
portrait  statue  of  Mausollus  and  his  wife  Artemisia  in  a  chariot. 
Considerable  remains  were  found  by  Sir  Charles  Newton  at 
Halicarnassus,  and  are  now  in  the  British  Museum.  We  know 
that  Scopas  and  other  famous  artists  were  employed  upon  the 
work.  The  most  important  relic  is  the  colossal  statue  of  Mau- 
sollus, which,  considering  its  situation,  is  in  remarkably  fine 
preservation.*   Here  we  have  perhaps  for  the  first  time  in  all 

*  Plate  74. 

221 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

the  history  of  art  a  realistic  portrait.  The  face  of  the  prince  is 
not  in  the  least  conventional,  has,  in  fact,  a  distinctly  barbarian 
profile,  yet  preserves  a  dignity  and  worth  of  its  own,  and  visibly 
suggests  a  foreign  plutocrat.  The  reliefs  *  which  adorned  the 
pedestal  are  also  distinctive  and  interesting.  We  observe,  as 
on  the  Mantinean  basis,  that  the  figures  are  widely  spaced. 
Their  poses  are  visibly  contrived  for  decorative  effect  on  a  system 
of  correspondences  much  less  subtle,  and  therefore  much  less 
effective,  than  on  the  Parthenon  frieze.  The  designer,  who  may 
have  been  Scopas  himself,  has  not  shrunk  from  portraying 
violent  action  in  the  battle  of  Amazons,  which  is  his  subject. 
Yet  there  is  beauty  in  every  figure,  and  remarkable  technical  skill. 

Another  famous  work  of  decorative  sculpture  belonging  to 
this  period  is  the  colossal  group  of  the  Niobids.  It  was 
brought  to  Rome  from  somewhere  in  Asia  Minor,  probably 
Cilicia,  and  apparently  copied  by  several  Graeco-Roman  artists 
of  very  various  powers.  The  original  dates,  no  doubt,  from  the 
fourth  century.  It  seems  to  have  formed  a  group  of  detached 
statues  set  up  on  a  pedestal  either  in  the  open  air  or  in  a 
colonnade.  The  general  arrangement  of  the  figures  resembles 
that  of  a  pedimental  composition,  for  the  whole  group  would 
be  pyramidal,  with  Niobe  herself  as  the  apex  figure.  Niobe's 
tragedy  is  an  example  of  divine  jealousy  aroused  by  excessive 
human  felicity  and  pride,  for  Niobe  was  so  proud  of  the  beauty 
of  her  large  family  that  she  exulted  over  Leto,  who  had  but  two 
children,  Apollo  and  Artemis.  Accordingly  she  and  all  her 
brood  were  shot  down  by  the  painless  arrows  of  the  two  gods. 
The  "plot"  of  the  group  is  a  study  in  psychology,  typical  of 
the  fourth  century,  showing  how  the  various  members  of  the 
doomed  family  met  their  deaths.  Here  again  the  technique  is 
wonderful;  every  figure  is  designed  in  a  broad  architectural 
spirit.  The  actual  figures,  as  we  have  them,  mostly  at  Florence, 
are  of  varying  merit.  Probably  the  best  is  the  most  recently 
discovered,  which  is  here  illustrated.!  But  all  are  of  rather 
frigid  perfection  in  workmanship. 

•  Plate  73,  Fig.  2.  f  Plate  75. 

222 


FIG.  2.     RELIEF  FROM  THE  MAUSOLEUM  (See  p.  222) 

Plate  73 


[f>.  222 


THE  FOURTH  CENTURY 


The  Other  Arts 

Nothing  has  been  said  here  about  painting,  because  Greek 
painting  is  essentially  a  matter  for  the  professional  archaeologist 
who  can  study  what  Pliny  and  others  said  about  it  and  try  to 
find  some  intelligent  meaning  in  it  by  reference  to  pottery  and 
sculpture.  Of  course  the  influence  of  Polygnotus,  Parrhasios, 
Zeuxis,  and  Apelles  should  be  traceable  even  in  the  humble 
decorators  of  pitcher,  pot,  and  pipkin.  But  we  have  no  relics  of 
the  original  work  of  any  of  those  artists,  and  the  ancient  art 
critic  is  an  obscure  and  uncertain  guide.  He  seems  to  have 
had  the  most  ridiculous  canons  of  art,  and  to  have  considered 
it  the  greatest  triumph  of  painting  when  birds  came  to  peck  at 
the  grapes  in  a  picture.  The  only  Greek  pictures  that  we  have 
are  the  mural  frescoes  and  mosaics  of  Pompeii,  which  belong 
properly  to  the  Roman  department,  and  a  few  Egyptian  mummy- 
cases  painted  by  Greek  artists.  Therefore,  if  you  please,  we 
will  leave  Greek  painting  to  the  connoisseurs,  with  the  remark 
that  Apelles  of  the  fourth  century  was  considered  the  greatest 
of  all  Greek  masters. 

Nor  can  the  ordinary  student  of  culture  get  much  satisfac- 
tion out  of  Greek  music.  It  is  rather  cheering  to  reflect  that 
after  all  they  did  not  know  everything  down  in  Athens,  but  left 
one  or  two  things  for  us  to  discover.  One  of  them  was 
harmony.  We  have  heard  accomplished  savants  give  curious 
and  not  wholly  unpleasant  renderings  of  Greek  music,  and 
distinguished  composers  like  Sir  Hubert  Parry  have  written 
very  beautiful  airs  which  are  said  to  be  Greek.  Broadly 
speaking,  we  may  divide  modern  reproductions  of  Greek  music 
into  two  classes :  those  that  are  Greek,  and  those  that  are 
music.  It  is  certain  that  the  Greeks  attached  very  great  im- 
portance to  music,  far  more,  in  fact,  than  we  do.  It  was  the 
foremost  instrument  of  ancient  education,  and  philosophers 
from  Pythagoras  to  Plato  insisted  very  seriously  upon  its  moral 
and  spiritual  efficacy.  The  Greeks  divided  music  into  three 
principal  modes,  according  to  the  key  employed.    The  Dorian 

223 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

Mode  was  the  lowest  in  pitch.  It  was  the  music  of  the  seven- 
or  eight-stringed  cithara  used  in  martial  songs  and  dances. 
The  Spartans  were  so  conservative  in  matters  of  music,  as  in 
all  else,  that  when  the  famous  Timotheus  of  Miletus  appeared 
in  their  city  with  his  new  twelve-stringed  harp  the  Ephors 
ordered  the  strings  to  be  broken.  The  Phrygian  Mode  was 
based  on  the  major  scale  with  a  flat  seventh  (  G  to  G),  and  the 
Lydian  on  the  major  with  a  sharp  fourth  (F  to  F).  The  Lydian 
was  the  music  of  the  "soft,  complaining  flute,"  and  its  high- 
pitched  sounds  were  condemned  by  the  austere  critics  of  the 
mainland  as  too  sensuous  and  emotional.  Wind  music  was, 
as  we  have  seen  on  the  monuments,  originally  regarded  as 
a  barbarian  monstrosity,  but  a  fourth-century  dinner-party 
would  scarcely  have  been  complete  without  at  least  one  turn  on 
the  double  pipe  by  a  pretty  auletris.  A  sort  of  double  pipe  is 
still  used  by  Greek  shepherd-boys,  and  in  the  modern  example 
which  I  have  seen  one  pipe  was  used  as  a  "  drone,"  as  in  the 
bagpipes.  This  instrument  is  probably  a  humble  survivor  of 
the  "syrinx"  played  by  Arcadian  shepherds  in  antiquity  and 
by  the  modern  impresario  of  Punch  and  Judy  shows — in  fact, 
the  Pan-pipes.  The  superior  instrument  played  by  the  auletris 
would  be  really  a  double  clarinet.  Tl  e  flute,  as  we  have  it, 
was  not  known  in  antiquity. 

The  Greek  potter  never  made  any  legitimate  advance 
beyond  the  Red-figured  Style  of  the  fifth  century.  In  the 
early  part  of  the  fourth  century  there  is  no  appreciable  change 
of  style ;  the  technique  is  a  little  more  perfect,  the  aim  is  a 
little  less  vigorous.  The  series  of  Panathenaic  amphorae* 
(those  large  jars  painted  with  figures  of  Athena  and  athletic 
subjects  intended  for  prizes  at  the  Panathenaic  games)  con- 
tinues unbroken,  and  their  design  changes  little  because  they 
have  to  correspond  with  a  conventional  type.  The  custom  was 
that  they  should  have  their  figures  in  black,  and  accordingly 
the  painter  obeyed  the  custom  by  leaving  parts  of  his  vase  in 
the  natural  red  of  the  burnt  clay,  and  treating  those  parts  as 

•  Seep.  112. 

224 


.\fansrli&  Co. 


Plate  74.  statue  of  mausollus. 
from  the  mausoleum 

(See  p.  221)  [p.  224 


THE  FOURTH  CENTURY 
panels  on  which  he  painted  his  figures  in  black.*  One  change 
we  notice:  vases  are  no  longer  signed  by  the  artist.  We 
conclude  from  this  that  pottery  is  no  longer  assigned  to  known 
masters  like  Hieron  and  Douris  for  decoration,  but  more 
mechanically  produced  in  large  numbers  by  humble  craftsmen 
in  factories.  This  would  correspond  with  the  increased  pro- 
fessionalism which  characterises  this  period  in  all  departments 
of  life.  Towards  the  end  of  the  century — that  is,  in  the  days  of 
Alexander — it  appears  that  vases  were  more  frequently  made 
in  metal;  not  that  we  have  any  metal  vases  surviving,  but 
the  earthenware  takes  forms  which  can  only  be  explained  as 
imitation  of  metal.  Thus  the  surface  is  often  raised  in  relief, 
and  vases  are  apparently  cast  in  moulds. 

Coins  and  gemsf  exhibit  increased  technical  mastery.  It 
must  not  be  forgotten  that  coin  types,  being  generally  of  re- 
ligious significance,  are  apt  to  be  very  slow  in  responding  to  the 
artistic  fashions  of  the  day.  This  is  especially  the  case  with 
Athenian  coinage.  The  Athena  type  with  owl  and  olive-branch 
on  the  reverse  is  always  of  a  conventional  and  somewhat 
archaic  character.  Elsewhere  the  coins  and  gems  of  the 
fourth  century  reach  their  highest  point  of  perfection,  and  that 
is  a  point  which  has  never  been  surpassed.  As  usual,  Syracuse 
is  in  the  forefront  for  beauty  of  design,  and  her  new  series  of 
tyrants,  Dionysius  I.  and  II.,  revive  the  glorious  types  of 
Gelo  and  Hiero  and  improve  them.  The  decadrachms  of  this 
period  representing  the  head  of  the  nymph  Arethusa  surrounded 
with  dolphins  and  bearing  on  the  reverse  a  four-horse  chariot 
at  full  gallop  are  regarded  by  numismatists  as  the  most  beauti- 
ful coins  in  existence.  The  best  of  these  bear  the  signature  of 
their  engraver,  Euainetus.  A  gold  coinage  began  here  about 
the  time  of  the  repulse  of  the  Athenian  Armada.  Corinthian 
coins  with  the  flying  Pegasus  on  the  obverse  and  a  head  of 
Athena  in  a  Corinthian  helmet  on  the  reverse  also  attain  the 
summit  of  their  beauty  in  this  century.  But  even  out-of-the- 
way  places  like  Panticapseum,  the  corn  depot  of  Southern  Russia, 

*  See  Plate  78  and  Vase  Plate.  Fig.  3.  t  Plates  76  and  77. 

P  225 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

and  the  little  island  of  Tenedos,  which  to  the  historian  est  in 
conspectu  and  little  more,  employed  engravers  of  consummate 
art.  Just  before  the  beginning  of  the  century  three  cities  of 
the  island  of  Rhodes  united  to  form  one  republic,  which 
rapidly  rose  to  wealth  by  way  of  commerce  and  good  govern- 
ment. It  produced  a  gold  coinage  of  great  excellence,  the 
figure  of  the  sun-god  Helios  on  the  obverse  and  a  rose 
(Rhodos)  as  a  punning  emblem  on  the  reverse.  It  is  only  with 
Alexander  the  Great  and  his  successors  that  the  portraiture  of 
mortal  rulers  begins  to  appear  on  Greek  coinage.  It  is  then 
rapidly  developed,  and  some  of  the  barbarian  monarchs  of  the 
East  are  portrayed  by  Greek  artists  with  great  vigour  and 
realism. 

Lastly,  architecture  exhibits  similar  tendencies  towards 
technical  facility  and  a  less  austere  spirit  in  the  use  of  orna- 
ment. To  this  period  belong  the  new  temple  at  Ephesus  and 
the  Mausoleum  already  mentioned,  and  the  kindred  sepulchral 
monument  from  Lycia  known  as  the  Nereid  Monument,  from 
the  graceful  figures  of  sea-nymphs  set  between  the  columns  on 
the  tall  basis  of  the  shrine.  In  Athens  we  have  the  new  stone 
theatre  of  Dionysus,  the  new  stadium  for  athletic  contests,  the 
little  choragic  monument  of  Lysicrates,  and  the  new  walls  to 
the  Peiraeus  constructed  by  Conon  with  Persian  help.  The 
luxurious  Corinthian  order  is  now  more  popular  than  the  staid 
Doric.  The  invention  of  this  beautiful  type,  with  its  curling 
acanthus  leaves  embowering  the  original  volutes  of  the  Ionic 
capital,  is  attributed  to  the  Athenian  sculptor  Callimachus,  a 
versatile  artist  of  Periclean  days.*  It  was  the  discovery  of  a 
new  drill  for  stone-cutting  which  made  it  possible.  A  legendary 
explanation  of  its  origin  was  naturally  provided.  Callimachus 
had  been  struck  with  the  beauty  of  a  column  on  which  a  woman 
had  placed  a  basket  of  flowers  in  memory  of  the  maiden  whose 
tomb  it  marked,  and  a  live  acanthus  had  sprung  from  the 
cracked  stone  below  the  basket.  The  earliest  appearance  of 
the  Corinthian  capital  is,  so  far  as  we  know,  to  be  found  in  the 

•  Plate  79. 

226 


THE  FOURTH  CENTURY 

temple  at  Bassse.  It  became  increasingly  popular,  especially 
in  Roman  times.  Owing  to  its  slenderer  shaft,  Vitruvius 
compares  the  Corinthian  order  to  a  young  girl,  while  he 
likens  the  Ionic  to  a  matron  and  the  Doric  to  a  man. 

In  the  terra-cotta  statuettes  which  have  been  found  in  such 
large  numbers  at  Tanagra  and  elsewhere  we  have  some  of  the 
most  delightful  as  well  as  the  most  characteristic  examples  of 
fourth-century  art.*  They  are  generally  found  in  tombs,  and 
seem  to  have  been  made  for  the  purpose.  They  seldom 
represent  deities,  though  we  have  several  examples  of  Eros,  and 
perhaps  Aphrodite.  Far  the  commonest  subject  is  a  young 
girl  draped  in  a  mantle.  Indeed,  the  maker  of  such  ware  is 
called  in  Greek  Koroplastes — "Girl-modeller."  Domestic 
scenes  are  common,  girls  talking,  dancers,  animals,  and  so 
forth.  Some  are  jointed,  and  many  of  them  were  obviously 
designed  as  toys.  Sometimes  they  were  glazed,  but  far  more 
often  the  colours  were  applied  directly  to  the  clay  after  it  came 
from  the  mould.  The  colours  have  therefore  in  many  cases 
entirely  disappeared.  Apart  from  their  singular  grace  and 
charm,  they  give  us  extremely  interesting  examples  of  Greek 
costume.  The  British  Museum  has  a  very  fine  collection, 
which  well  deserves  study.  A  few  of  them  appear  to  be 
modelled  from  famous  statues  of  the  period. 

Literature  and  Philosophy 
This  is,  as  we  have  noticed,  an  age  of  Prose.  Poetry  is 
for  the  time  being  almost  extinct,  partly,  perhaps,  because  the 
Athenian  theatre  was  already  so  well  supplied  with  material  by 
the  great  masters  of  the  previous  generation,  and  partly  because 
public  recitation  was  no  longer  the  sole  means  of  publication 
for  literature.  It  is  true  that  Agathon,  a  member  of  the 
literary  circle  which  included  Socrates  and  Plato,  was  esteemed 
almost  on  a  level  with  the  three  great  tragedians,  but  all  his 
work  has  been  allowed  to  perish.  The  fourth  century  is  the 
era  of  the  "Middle  Comedy,"  a  stage  of  transition  in  which 

•  Plate  80, 

227 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

political  references  were  being  abandoned  and  the  delineation 
of  manners  and  social  life  was  taking  its  place.  But  no  great 
names  attach  to  this  stage,  and  no  relics  survive.  The  New 
Comedy  of  manners,  in  which  the  great  master  was  Menander, 
begins  towards  the  end  of  the  fourth  century  and  fills  the  first 
half  of  the  third. 

Prose  would  naturally  fall  into  three  categories — History, 
including  political  and  economic  writings,  Oratory,  and 
Philosophy. 

The  fifth  century  had  produced  the  two  great  historians 
Herodotus  and  Thucydides,  both  of  whom  treated  their  subject 
from  a  lofty  standpoint  with  a  distinctly  ethical  purpose.  The 
typical  historian  of  the  fourth  century  has  a  much  more  re- 
stricted outlook.  Instead  of  seeking  to  point  a  moral  or  to 
illustrate  the  larger  aspects  of  life,  he  is  contented  with  investi- 
gating and  narrating  the  facts  of  the  past  for  their  own  sake 
or  for  any  purpose  to  which  the  reader  may  care  to  put  them. 
Such  were  Ephorus  and  Theopompus,  whose  work,  though  lost 
to  us,  formed  the  base  upon  which  such  writers  as  Plutarch 
built  their  narratives.  Undoubtedly,  however,  these  historians 
often  had  causes  of  their  own  to  serve.  The  constitutional 
history  of  Greece,  which  was  originally  compiled  by  various 
writers  of  this  period,  is  full  of  contradictions  which  distinctly 
point  to  theories  constructed  under  the  influence  of  interested 
motives  and  in  accordance  with  certain  political  tendencies. 
The  venerable  figures  of  Solon  and  Lycurgus,  many  bio- 
graphical details  concerning  Miltiades  and  Themistocles,  have 
been  composed  by  persons  whose  motives  seldom  included  any 
disinterested  love  of  truth.  On  the  other  hand,  fourth-century 
historians  now  approach  their  work  with  much  more  distinct 
ideas  as  to  the  rules  of  evidence.  Xenophon  I  have  already 
described  as  one  of  the  characteristic  figures  of  the  day.  He 
always  betrays  a  strong  tendency  in  favour  of  Sparta,  and 
especially  his  friend  King  Agesilaus. 

Oratory  as  a  branch  of  literature  resting  upon  formal  rules 
of  rhetoric  is  a  creation  of  this  period.  The  Greeks  had 
228 


Plate  76.    COINS  OK  THE  FOURTH  CENTURY  B.C.        [/.  228 
(See  p.  235) 

I.   KllODES.         2.  ATHENS.         3.  l'ANTICAP/KUM. 
4.  TENEDOS.         5.  SICILIAN  DECADK AC1IM. 


THE  FOURTH  CENTURY 

always  been  a  rhetorical  people.  We  have  noted  how,  even  in 
Homer,  persuasion  by  the  power  of  speech  was  a  god-given 
attribute  of  kings  and  elders.  The  Greeks,  and  the  Romans 
too,  went  into  battle  under  the  influence  of  oratory  as  our 
Highlanders  are  aroused  to  martial  frenzy  by  the  eloquence 
of  the  pibroch.  No  one  doubts  that  all  the  speeches  in 
Thucydides'  history  are  of  his  own  invention,  but  if  they  bear 
any  resemblance  to  the  real  thing  we  must  believe  that  the 
Greek  soldier  was  encouraged,  in  the  fifth  century,  to  fight  by 
a  very  sober  and  logical  style  of  speech,  including  a  categorical 
estimate  of  the  chances  in  his  favour.  The  modern  reader  is 
frequently  lulled  to  sleep  by  the  words  of  Brasidas  or  Nikias 
encouraging  his  men  to  battle.  Thucydides  had,  it  seems, 
learnt  his  peculiarly  artificial  style  of  rhetoric  from  Antiphon, 
who  was  the  first  professional  rhetorician  to  engage  in  politics. 
But  even  Antiphon  was  content  to  direct  operations  through 
his  pupils.  In  the  fourth  century  the  trained  professional 
orator  comes  forward  on  the  Pnyx  as  a  public  statesman,  is 
elected  general,  and  gives  orders  to  the  professional  soldiers 
who  now  command  armies  and  fleets.  The  profession  of  the 
pleader  had  grown  inevitably  out  of  the  legal  system  in  vogue 
at  Athens.  Where  suits  were  decided  by  juries  numbering 
hundreds,  a  rather  violent  style  of  pleading  had  naturally  arisen. 
Although  it  was  necessary  by  law  for  the  litigants  to  conduct 
their  own  case,  it  became  customary  for  them  to  apply  to  speech- 
writers  like  Lysias,  Isaeus,  and  Demosthenes  for  a  speech  to  be 
learnt  and  recited  as  dramatically  as  possible.  We  should 
expect  such  performances  to  be  highly  emotional  and  to 
consist  largely  of  oratorical  claptrap.  That,  on  the  contrary, 
they  are  for  the  most  part  severely  logical,  that  purple 
passages  are  carefully  eschewed  and  references  to  national 
feeling  kept  within  limits  is  the  clearest  possible  proof  of  the 
high  intellectual  standard  of  the  average  Athenian  citizen 
who  sat  upon  the  jury.  It  is  true  that  defendants  did  dress  in 
mourning  and  produce  wives  and  families  in  rags  and  tears  to 
move  the  sympathies  of  their  judges,  but  their  arguments  must  be 

229 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

sensible  and  must  include  copious  reference  to  the  letter  of  the 
law.  From  the  so-called  "  Private  Orations  "  of  Demosthenes 
we  obtain  rare  glimpses  of  social  life  at  Athens  in  the  fourth 
century,  the  banker  Phormio  who  rises  to  affluence  from  slavery, 
who  is  liberated  and  marries  his  master's  daughter,  the  ele- 
gant hooliganism  of  rich  young  men  who  quarrel  in  camp 
and  assault  one  another  in  the  Athenian  market-place,  the 
extraordinary  luxury  of  Meidias,  who  rode  on  a  silver-plated 
saddle,  or  the  quarrels  of  neighbours  in  the  country  about 
watercourses  and  rights  of  way.  In  a  later  chapter  we  shall 
have  to  consider  the  public  orations  of  Demosthenes  as  the 
opponent  of  the  Macedonian  conquerors.  He  is  unquestionably 
for  European  literature  the  father  of  oratory.  Cicero  learnt 
his  art  from  Demosthenes,  and  Burke  from  Cicero.  Clever- 
ness is  the  distinguishing  mark  of  Demosthenes ;  his  style  is 
restrained  and  logical.  I  do  not  think  he  was  morally  great,  or 
even  more  than  tolerably  honest,  but  he  was  so  subtle  a  pleader 
that  I  for  one  always  have  an  instinctive  desire  to  take  the 
other  side. 

Isocrates,  "the  old  man  eloquent,"  who  died  about  338  B.C., 
is  an  interesting  figure,  very  typical  of  his  day.  He  became 
a  professor  of  rhetoric,  and  kept  a  school  in  which  he  had 
a  hundred  pupils,  each  of  whom  paid  him  1000  drachmae 
for  the  course.  He  received  as  much  as  thirty  talents  for 
writing  a  single  speech.  But  he  was  a  pure  theorist;  he 
scarcely  ever  delivered  his  orations,  which  were  written  for 
private  reading,  and  carefully  polished  for  that  purpose.  Some 
modern  historians  discern  in  him  a  statesman  of  wide  and 
lofty  views.  It  is  true  that  he  advocated  peace,  retrenchment, 
and  reform  for  Athens.  It  is  true  also  that  he  spoke  in  his 
great  Panegyric  Oration,  a  work  which  had  taken  him  ten 
years  to  write,  in  favour  of  concerted  action  by  Hellas  against 
the  Persians.  But  I  fear  that  Isocrates  as  a  Panhellenist  is  a 
fraud.  Panhellenic  orations  on  the  text  of  the  Persian  wars 
were  a  standing  dish  at  the  Olympic  festival.  Gorgias  of 
Leontini,  among  others,  had  delivered  a  similar  oration  in 
230 


WmhmU  Sr  co 


Plate  77.   GREEK  OEMS  [/>  230 

(See  p.  225) 


THE  FOURTH  CENTURY 
past  years.  It  is  surely  a  proof  of  the  deadness  of  Panhellenic 
feeling  in  Greece  that  the  assembled  States  could  periodically 
applaud  such  orations  and  then  go  home  and  sign  the  peace 
which  the  Great  King  had  sent  down  from  Susa.  Moreover, 
the  Panegyric  itself  is  written  in  a  very  curious  tone  for  a 
genuine  internationalist.  He  begins  very  happily :  "  Athens  and 
Sparta  united,  shoulder  to  shoulder,  as  they  stood  at  Plataea, 
Athens  and  Sparta  .  .  .  yes,  but  in  that  order,  mind  you.  .  .  . 
Athens  must  come  first.  .  .  .  Sparta  is,  and  always  has  been, 
a  bully  and  a  sneak  .  .  .  don't  you  remember  .  .  .  ?"  That 
is  the  spirit  of  the  Panegyric.  Nor  is  the  style  really  com- 
parable to  that  of  Demosthenes.  Carefully  constructed  as  it  is, 
it  smells  of  the  lamp;  there  is  a  wearisome  mellifluousness  in 
its  cadences,  and  a  certain  odour  of  self-consciousness  and 
self-righteousness  in  its  tone. 

Turning  now  to  philosophy,  we  are  confronted  at  once  with 
the  problem  of  Socrates  and  his  real  personality.*  The  sage 
himself  wrote  nothing,  but  he  has  been  written  of  by  two 
immediate  disciples,  Xcnophon  and  Plato.  Between  the  two 
we  must  form  our  idea  of  the  man.  It  is  likely  that  Xcnophon 
missed  a  great  deal  of  the  inner  meaning  of  his  master's  teach- 
ing, but  it  is  certain  that  Plato  used  Socrates  as  a  mouthpiece 
for  his  own  ideas  with  a  freedom  which  could  only  be  tolerated 
in  a  country  where  portraiture  was  seldom  as  yet  practised  as  an 
art.  Socrates  may  be  shortly  described  as  a  man  who  went 
about  asking  "Why?"  It  is  a  habit  that  we  are  too  apt  tc 
repress  in  children :  the  Athenians  put  Socrates  to  death  for  it. 
Remember  that  it  was  the  age  when  sophistry — that  is,  formal 
profession  of  superior  wisdom — was  beginning  to  be  rife,  when 
professors  of  this,  that,  and  the  other  were  abroad  in  the  streets 
of  Athens.  You  may  reduce  any  professor  to  tears  by  asking 
him  "Why?"  with  sufficient  persistence,  especially  if  you  are 
followed  by  a  train  of  admiring  young  men  of  good  family. 
Socrates  was  very  pertinacious  and  absolutely  fearless.  So  a 
jury  of  Athenian  citizens  condemned  him  to  drink  hemlock  on 

•  Plate  81. 

231 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
the  charge  of  corrupting  the  youth  with  atheistical  doctrines. 
He  was  certainly  not  an  atheist.  He  was  deeply  religious  in 
the  highest  sense.  The  goodness  of  God  and  the  immortality 
of  the  soul  were  two  of  the  fundamental  dogmas  to  Socrates. 
He  objected,  or  at  least  Plato  did,  to  the  theology  of  Homer 
as  undignified,  in  that  it  exhibited  gods  laughing  and  weep- 
ing. But  he  used  constantly  to  speak  of  "  the  God,"  "the 
divine  principle,"  and  even  of  a  "  Daimonion,"  or  divine  spirit 
in  his  own  breast. 

In  the  main,  there  is  no  doubt  but  that  the  condemnation 
of  Socrates  was,  like  that  of  Christ,  a  political  move.  Both 
Critias  and  Theramenes,  the  foremost  leaders  of  the  oligarchic 
revolution,  were  among  the  disciples  of  Socrates.  Both 
Anytus  and  Melitus,  his  accusers,  belonged  to  the  democratic 
reactionaries  who  had  overthrown  them.  If  we  may  judge  by 
Plato  and  Xenophon,  Socrates  was  unquestionably  a  keen  critic 
of  the  innumerable  sophistries  upon  which  democracy  was 
built.  With  all  that,  Socrates  was  a  good  citizen  and 
patriot.  He  had  fought  in  many  Athenian  battles,  the  soldiers 
marvelled  at  his  contempt  for  cold  and  danger,  he  had  done 
his  best  to  prevent  the  unjust  sentence  upon  the  generals  of 
Arginusae,  he  had  incurred  the  hostility  of  the  Thirty  Tyrants. 

The  trial  and  death  of  Socrates  present  a  scene  which  for 
pathos  and  nobility  stands,  with  one  other,  alone  in  history. 
At  the  first  trial  he  was  condemned  only  by  a  majority  of  six. 
Athenian  law  permitted  him  under  such  circumstances  to  pro- 
pose an  alternative  penalty.  He  proposed,  accordingly,  that  he 
should  be  entertained  for  the  rest  of  his  life  at  public  expense, 
along  with  the  officers  and  benefactors  of  the  State,  in  the 
Presidential  Hall.  This  Socratic  irony  was  treated  by  the 
judges  as  contumacy,  and  at  the  second  hearing  he  was  con- 
demned to  death  by  a  large  plurality  of  votes.  Plato  has  written 
of  his  end  in  three  great  dialogues — "  The  Apology,"  "  The 
Phaedo,"  and  "  The  Crito."  In  "The  Apology  "  Socrates  con- 
cludes his  address  to  the  jury  with  these  words  :  "  This  only  I 
ask  of  you.  When  my  sons  grow  up,  gentlemen,  if  they  seem  to 
232 


late  78.  ATHLETES  BOXING.    KROM  A  PANATHENAIC 

AMPHORA   (See  p.  225)  [P-  »3a 


THE  FOURTH  CENTURY 
you  to  be  concerned  about  wealth  or  anything  rather  than 
virtue,  punish  them,  I  pray  you,  with  the  same  affliction  as  that 
with  which  I  have  afflicted  you,  and  if  they  pretend  to  be 
something  when  they  are  nothing,  make  it  a  reproach  to  them, 
as  I  have  made  it  to  you.  If  you  will  do  that,  we  shall  have 
received  justice  at  your  hands,  I  and  my  sons.  Ah,  I  see  it 
is  now  time  for  us  all  to  go  hence,  me  to  my  death,  you  to  your 
life.  Butlwhich  of  us  is  going  on  a  better  errand — that  none 
can  say,  but  only  God  alone." 

The  dialogue  of  "Phaedo"  is  perhaps  the  sublimest  thing  in 
literature.  It  purports  to  be  the  last  discourse  of  Socrates  to 
the  friends  who  have  come  to  share  his  last  moments.  He 
preaches  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  the  unimportance  of 
death,  nay,  the  urgent  necessity  of  that  release  from  the 
hampering  and  deluding  trammels  of  the  body,  if  a  philosopher 
is  to  see  things  as  they  are  and  enjoy  the  knowledge  of  reality. 
He  puts  it  as  a  "myth,"  using  the  current  Greek  mythology 
of  Styx  and  Hades  and  Tartarus  to  enforce  his  doctrine  of 
Hell,  Paradise,  and  Purgatory.  His  friend  Crito  asks  for 
instructions  as  to  his  burial. 

"  4  Bury  me  any  way  you  like,'  answered  Socrates,  'if  you 
get  hold  of  me  and  I  don't  escape  you.'  He  looked  at  us  with 
a  quiet  smile  and  proceeded:  'No,  sirs,  I  can't  convince  Crito 
that  I  am  this  Socrates  who  is  now  conversing  with  you.  He 
thinks  I  am  that  one  whom  he  will  presently  see  dead,  and  he 
asks,  if  you  please,  how  he  is  to  bury  me.  I  have  been  making 
a  long  speech  to  prove  that  when  I  have  drunk  the  poison  1 
shall  not  be  with  you  any  more,  but  shall  have  gone  away  to 
enjoy  whatever  blessings  await  the  departed ;  only  I  am  afraid 
it  is  all  lost  upon  Crito,  with  all  my  consolations  for  myself  and 
you.  So  you  must  be  my  sureties  with  Crito  in  a  pledge  just 
contrary  to  that  which  he  gave  to  my  judges,  lie  went  bail 
that  I  would  remain  here.  You  must  go  bail  that  I  shall 
certainly  not  remain,  but  abscond  and  vanish.  Then  Crito  will 
be  less  afflicted,  and  when  he  sees  my  body  being  burnt  or 
buried  he  won't  grieve  for  me  as  if  something  unpleasant  was 
happening  to  me,  and  he  won't  say  at  the  funeral  that  it  is 
Socrates  he  is  laying  out  or  burying.' " 

233 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

Then  the  story  of  his  painful  and  courageous  death  is  told 
in  language  of  extraordinary  simplicity  and  dignified  restraint. 
"  Such,  Echecrates,  was  the  last  end  of  our  companion,  as  we 
should  say,  the  best,  the  wisest,  and  the  justest  man  of  all  we 
had  ever  known." 

Socrates  had  done  much  towards  giving  Greek  philosophy 
its  new  trend.  The  earlier  philosophers  had  been  chiefly 
concerned  with  the  physical  universe,  trying  to  discover  its 
origin,  and  thereby  its  "  principle " ;  this  had  been  apt  to  de- 
generate into  that  paltry  inquisitiveness  about  mere  phenomena 
which  many  people  are  still  apt  to  dignify  with  the  name  of 
"natural  science."  Socrates  sought  not  so  much  the  origin  as 
the  end  of  things;  he  made  philosophy  concern  herself  with 
the  nature  of  reality,  and  incidentally  with  ethics  and  conduct. 

The  development  of  ideal  philosophy  may  probably  be 
ascribed,  in  the  main,  to  Plato  rather  than  Socrates.  The 
general  English  reader  will  find  a  Christianised  version  of 
the  Platonic  theory  of  Ideas  in  Wordsworth's  "  Ode  on  Inti- 
mations of  Immortality."  Put  very  briefly,  it  is  that  the 
material  world  apprehended  by  the  human  senses  is  only  a 
copy  or  pale  shadow  of  the  realities  "  laid  up  in  heaven."  The 
soul  comes  into  this  world 

"  Not  in  entire  forgetfulness 
And  not  in  utter  nakedness." 

We  recognise  the  forms  of  things  by  their  likeness  to  the 
patterns  apprehended  by  the  soul  elsewhere.  Thus,  as  Plato 
says  in  the  "  Meno,"  all  learning  is  a  process  of  recollection. 
Knowledge  is  virtue.  The  words  of  St.  Paul  to  the  Corinthians 
are  almost  a  verbal  echo  of  this  teaching  of  Socrates  :  "  For 
now  we  see  in  a  mirror  darkly,  but  then  face  to  face  :  now  I 
know  in  part ;  but  then  shall  I  know  even  as  I  am  known." 

The  doctrines  of  Plato  about  Love  have  been  strangely 
perverted  in  the  popular  mind  by  a  singular  freak  of  language 
in  the  use  of  the  word  "  platonic."  They  are  expounded  in  two 
very  different  dialogues,  the  almost  boisterous  "Symposium," 
234 


THE  FOURTH  CENTURY 

where  Socrates  and  his  friends  agree  to  diversify  the  drinking 
with  a  series  of  discourses  on  Love,  and  that  most  exquisite 
composition  called  the  "Phaedrus,"  in  which  Socrates  and  his 
friend  converse  on  the  same  topic  as  they  lie  in  the  shade  of  a 
spreading  plane-tree  upon  the  grassy  banks  of  the  Ilissus. 

The  human  soul,  coming  from  eternity  into  life,  has  not 
forgotten  altogether  "the  sea  of  beauty"  of  which  it  had  once 
enjoyed  the  vision.  All  beautiful  things  remind  us  of  it,  and 
(once  more  to  quote  Wordsworth) : 

"  Hence  in  a  season  of  calm  weather, 
Though  inland  far  we  be, 
Our  souls  have  sight  of  that  immortal  sea 
Which  brought  us  hither." 

Thus  all  men  possess  a  natural  yearning  for  beauty,  how- 
ever much  their  glimpses  of  it  may  have  been  darkened  and 
distorted  by  their  earthly  experiences,  and  in  their  beloved  they 
are  seeing  the  reflection  of  the  reality  of  beauty.  The  pro- 
creant  impulse  is  part  of  man's  yearning  for  immortality;  it  is 
out  of  goodness  and  beauty  that  the  immortal  is  to  be  begotten. 

With  Plato's  political  views  as  expressed  especially  in  the 
"Republic"  we  shall  be  able  to  deal  more  fully  in  the  next 
chapter,  when  we  come  to  consider  the  political  theories  which 
arose  out  of  the  conditions  of  the  city-state.  It  is  clear  that 
in  the  hands  of  men  like  Socrates  and  Plato  philosophy  was 
usurping  the  place  which  according  to  our  notions  religion 
ought  to  occupy  in  the  minds  of  men.  Greek  religion,  or  at 
least  the  official  Olympian  worship  as  defined  by  Homer, 
Hesiod,  and  the  Tragic  Poets,  had  never  attained  much  influence 
over  the  morality  of  its  worshippers.  But  now  philosophy  was 
definitely  claiming  to  teach  virtue.  Not  only  sophists  like 
Protagoras  and  Hippias,  but  even  philosophers  like  Socrates 
and  Plato,  claimed  to  put  right  conduct  on  a  basis  of  knowledge, 
and  therefore  of  education.  Hence  followed  the  deplorable 
consequence  that  virtue  was  to  be  for  the  rich  and  well-born. 
Philosophy  was  snobbish  from  the  start;  it  finished  by  excluding 

235 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

all  but  the  select  few  from  any  chance  of  salvation,  and,  if  it 
had  had  its  way,  would  have  excluded  them  from  any  political 
rights  whatever.  Socrates  seldom  discriminates  between  wise 
and  learned,  nor  between  wise  and  good.  The  strength  of 
Greek  philosophy  is  in  its  earnest  opposition  to  materialism, 
its  proper  scorn  of  base,  trivial,  and  temporary  pursuits.  But 
therewith  it  felt  and  inculcated  a  contempt  of  honest  labour, 
and  thereby  it  drifted  farther  and  farther  apart  from  practical 
life.  For  that,  of  course,  the  institution  of  slavery  is  largely 
responsible. 


236 


Plate  80. 


FIVE  TAN  AGRA  STATUETTES 
(S*e  p.  227) 


[/.  236 


VI 


THE  MACEDONIAN  WORLD 


tlntp  uttjv  pdiftqv  yvupj),  Ar)p6a6(vtt,  ft\ts 
oCjtotj  hv  'l£h\r)va>v  ?jp£fv  *Apijr  Maxc'dup. 

Plutarch. 

Alexander  and  his  Work 

HE  fate  of  that  old  god  Cronos,  supplanted 
by  his  own  children  whom  he  had  tried  in 
vain  to  devour,  is  more  or  less  the  common 
lot  of  all  parents  of  vigorous  offspring.  The 
Athenians  had  a  nocturnal  festival  in  which 
young  men  ran  in  relays,  each  member  of 
the  team  handing  his  torch  to  another,  and, 
as  ./Eschylus  says  in  a  fine  metaphor,  "  the 
first  is  the  victor,  even  though  he  be  last 
in  the  running."  So  at  this  point  of  our 
history  we  begin  to  be  aware  of  new  forces 
arising  in  the  Greek  world,  new  powers  on 
the  fringe  of  the  Hellenic  circle  now  step- 
ping  into  the  light  and  taking  their  places  in  the  torch-race 
of  civilisation.  Such  were  Rhodes,  the  new  commercial  re- 
public, Caria  under  Mausollus,  Thessaly  under  Jason,  Cyprus 
under  Evagoras,  Pergamum  under  Attalus,  the  two  Leagues, 
iEtolian  and  Achaean,  and  above  all  Macedon  under  Philip 
and  Alexander.  The  stream  of  culture  and  intelligence  that 
emanated  from  Athens  and  the  other  ancient  cities  was  now 
pulsing  in  the  finger-tips  of  Greece.  Many  of  these  new  powers 
are  more  than  half  barbarian.  They  are  either  monarchies  or 
confederations.    What  generally  happens  is  that  leaders  arise 

237 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

who  are  themselves  sufficiently  endowed  with  civilised  intelli- 
gence to  utilise  the  latent  force  in  a  race  of  untamed  and  un- 
civilised warriors.  In  the  military  sense  the  case  is  that  the 
old  powers  had  grown  into  the  habit  of  replacing  their  citizen 
militias  by  paid  professional  soldiers,  and  their  citizens  accord- 
ingly had  grown  slack  and  unwarlike.  Rulers  like  Philip  of 
Macedon  were  able  to  raise  much  larger  native  levies  and  to 
drill  them  into  the  professional  tactics  of  the  day.  Economically 
it  was  wealth  that  told.  The  old  cities  were,  partly,  no  doubt, 
through  their  own  lack  of  foresight,  in  a  state  of  financial 
exhaustion,  while  Philip,  by  his  control  of  the  gold-mines, 
Attalus  and  Evagoras  by  their  private  wealth,  and  the 
Phocians  by  their  sacrilegious  seizure  of  the  treasures  of 
Delphi,  were  still  able  to  bring  large  forces  into  the  field.  The 
old  powers  were  thus  left  behind  in  the  race  through  the  force 
of  circumstances  beyond  their  control.  In  fact,  the  day  of  the 
city-state  seemed  for  a  time  to  be  drawing  to  a  close,  and 
larger  units,  either  kingdoms  or  confederacies,  to  be  taking  its 
place  according  to  their  natural  superiority. 

Modern  historians,  therefore,  suckled  on  Bismarckism  and 
devoted  to  physical  force,  turn  aside  from  the  old  cities  and 
pronounce  them  hopelessly  degenerate.  This  is  a  proposition 
that  deserves  examination.  In  some  respects  it  is  false.  If  it 
be  the  mark  of  historical  decadence  that  the  motive  power  of 
a  race  is  in  some  mysterious  way  paralysed  so  that  invention 
ceases  and  no  more  new  experiments  are  made  in  culture  or 
politics,  then  we  may  assert  with  some  confidence  that  Greece 
was  not  yet  in  the  fourth  nor  even  in  the  third  century  in  such 
a  condition.  We  shall  see  something  of  her  new  inventions 
in  literature,  philosophy,  and  art  in  this  chapter.  In  politics 
the  federal  systems  of  Western  Greece  were  distinctly  novel 
and  promising.  Even  in  warfare  she  fought  bravely  enough  at 
Chaeroneia,  as  she  did  much  later  against  the  invading  Gauls. 
Even  Athens,  when  her  dark  hour  came  and  she  had  to  submit 
to  garrisons  and  alien  governors,  never  acquiesced,  but  rose 
again  and  again  in  rebellion  against  them.  Sparta  for  a  short 
238 


THE  MACEDONIAN  WORLD 
time  in  the  third  century  performed  the  most  difficult  of  all 
political  feats,  namely,  a  reformation  and  regeneration  of  her- 
self from  within.  At  Sellasia  under  Cleomenes  III.  in  222  B.C. 
the  few  Spartans  who  remained  fought  against  tremendous 
odds  with  all  their  ancient  sublime  devotion,  and  died  to  a  man 
as  their  ancestors  had  done  under  Leonidas.  So  true  is  it  that 
moral  and  spiritual  qualities  in  a  people  do  not  come  to  the 
sudden  end  that  often  befalls  a  state  when  it  depends  for  its 
greatness  on  material  prosperity  or  physical  force. 

But  the  most  serious  symptom  of  later  Greece  was  a  real 
racial  decline,  for  which  history  has  no  remedy  and  no  mercy, 
a  decline  of  population.  The  Spartiate  race  of  Lacedcemon,  for 
example,  became  almost  extinct.  There  were  no  more  than 
1 500  of  them  at  the  date  of  the  battle  of  Leuctra,  and  after  that 
we  hear  of  expeditions  containing  no  more  that  thirty  genuine 
Spartiates.  In  a  less  degree  it  was  the  same  all  over  old 
Greece,  and  whether  it  was  due  to  malarial  fever  or  to 
economic  distress,  it  made  the  political  decline  of  these  states 
inevitable. 

Now  it  is  necessary  to  go  back  a  little  into  the  earlier  part 
of  the  fourth  century  to  glance  at  the  rise  of  Maccdon  and  its 
conquerors.  At  the  opening  of  the  century  Macedon  was  still 
almost  uncivilised;  it  was  ruled  by  a  monarchy  surrounded 
with  an  aristocracy  of  knights  very  much  after  the  Homeric 
model.  At  that  time  its  kings  had  begun  to  acquire  enough 
education  to  mingle  a  little  in  Greek  politics,  and  Archelaus  in 
particular  had  the  good  taste  to  invite  Euripides  and  Agathon 
to  his  court.  Philip  II.  obtained  the  throne  by  suppressing  his 
young  ward,  the  rightful  king.  At  that  time  Macedon  was  over- 
run by  wilder  barbarians  from  the  west,  and  it  was  long  before 
Philip  could  make  head  against  them.  He  did  so  at  last  by 
the  organising  genius  which  he  displayed  in  remodelling  his 
army,  the  astute  statesmanship  with  which  he  made  and  broke 
treaties,  and  still  more  by  the  wealth  he  secured  and  the  use  he 
made  of  it  in  bribing  his  enemies.  Philip  was,  in  short,  the 
organiser  who  occasionally  precedes  the  conqueror  and  grows 

239 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

the  laurels  for  his  successor  to  wear.  Expansion  to  the  west 
would  be  difficult  and  unprofitable.  To  the  east  lay  the  im- 
portant cities  of  the  Chalcidian  peninsulas,  the  gold-mines  of 
Mount  Pangseus,  protected  by  the  city  of  Amphipolis,  the 
rather  decrepit  kingdom  of  Thrace,  and  then  the  way  was 
clear  to  the  Black  Sea  and  to  Asia.  Now  this  was  the  chosen 
field  of  commercial  enterprise  for  Athens  and  her  reviving 
fleets.    A  conflict  was  therefore  inevitable. 

The  statesman  who  led  the  anti-Macedonian  party  at 
Athens  was  the  orator  Demosthenes.  His  brilliant  series  of 
Philippics  and  Olynthiac  Orations  are  full  of  denunciations  of 
the  crafty  monarch,  full  of  trumpet-calls  to  the  ancient  valour 
of  Athens  which  sometimes  ring  rather  hollow  to  modern  ears. 
Demosthenes  was  not  exceptionally  honest,  but  there  is  no 
warrant  for  suspecting  the  purity  of  his  patriotism.  He  him- 
self set  the  example  of  bearing  a  shield  personally  in  the  ranks, 
and  he  must  have  been  conscious  throughout  his  public  career 
that  he  was  in  danger  of  assassination  or  of  execution  if  the 
enemy  triumphed.  The  wisdom  of  his  opposition  to  Philip 
has  also  been  questioned.  Events  were  to  prove  that  these 
Macedonian  kings  were  not  barbarians ;  on  the  contrary,  their 
warmest  aspiration  was  to  be  counted  as  Greeks,  and  they  had, 
as  they  frequently  testified,  a  great  love  of  Greek  culture  and 
a  deep  veneration  for  Athens  as  the  home  of  it.  This  the 
future  was  to  prove;  the  present  only  showed  a  foreign 
monarch  devouring  piecemeal  the  markets  of  Athens  in  the 
north.  Perhaps  Demosthenes  ought  to  have  realised  that 
Macedon  was  too  strong  for  Athens,  but  no  one  could  seriously 
expect  old  Greece  to  succumb  to  this  upstart  without  a  struggle. 
For  one  thing,  Macedon  had  not  and  never  acquired  a  really 
strong  fleet.    But  her  army  was  certainly  irresistible. 

Philip  had  learnt  strategy  at  the  feet  of  the  Theban 
Epaminondas.  The  army  he  created  included  a  corps  d'ilite 
of  noble  horse-guards,  the  Companions  of  the  King.  These 
were  the  earliest  first-rate  mounted  troops  in  history,  and 
it  was  by  their  means  that  the  dashing  exploits  of  Alexander 
240 


THE  MACEDONIAN  WORLD 
were  subsequently  achieved.  For  the  infantry  his  great  in- 
vention was  the  phalanx.  This  was  clearly  a  modification 
of  the  deep  formation  invented  by  Epaminondas.  It  con- 
sisted of  sixteen  ranks  armed  with  a  spear  21  feet  long. 
They  stood  in  close  order  so  that  the  points  of  the  first  five 
ranks  projected  from  the  front  to  present  a  bristling  hedge  of 
spears.  The  remaining  eleven  ranks,  we  are  gravely  informed, 
held  their  spears  obliquely  in  the  air  to  ward  off  missiles! 
Let  the  military  reader  find  a  military  justification  for  this 
extraordinary  arrangement.  To  me  it  seems  a  further  confirma- 
tion of  my  civilian  view  that  Greek  tactics  were  primarily 
designed  to  prevent  armies  from  running  away.  We  observe 
that  when  Alexander  took  Persian  troops  into  his  phalanx 
he  put  twelve  ranks  of  Persians  into  the  lines,  with  a  row  of 
Macedonians  at  their  rear.  In  any  case  troops  standing  in 
close  formation  armed  with  weapons  7  yards  long  must  have 
been  useless  for  any  but  defensive  purposes;  and, as  a  matter  of 
fact,  the  victories  of  Alexander  were  generally  gained  by  the 
lightning  charge  of  the  king  at  the  head  of  his  knights. 

We  need  not  touch  upon  the  shabby  "Sacred  Wars  "  which 
caused  Philip  to  enter  Greece  on  the  invitation  of  Thebes.  It 
was  at  Chaeroneia  in  338  that  Philip  defeated  a  mixed  Greek 
army  in  whose  ranks  Demosthenes  was  fighting  as  a  hoplite. 
Philip  was  generous  to  the  Greeks,  and  especially  to  Athens. 
Next  year  the  darling  wish  of  his  heart  was  obtained,  for  he 
was  elected  president  of  a  Panhellenic  union  destined  to  fulfil 
his  great  scheme  of  avenging  the  Persian  invasions  of  Greece 
by  a  march  to  Babylon.  In  the  next  year  he  was  murdered, 
and  his  brilliant  son  Alexander  cannot  be  acquitted  of  complicity 
in  the  crime. 

The  grand  idea  was  Philip's,  begotten  perhaps  from  the 
study  of  Isocrates,  and  certainly  inspired  by  the  examples  of 
Xenophon  and  Agesilaus.  Unfortunately  it  was  far  from 
arousing  any  enthusiasm  in  Greece.  Persia  was  a  long  way  oflf 
and  money  could  be  had  from  the  Great  King  without  fighting 
for  it.    There  was  a  sordid  scramble  for  bribes  among  the 

Q  241 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
Greek  statesmen.  As  soon  as  they  heard  of  Philip's  death 
they  broke  into  unseemly  jubilation,  and  voted  compliments  to 
his  murderers ;  they  hoped  that  things  would  return  to  their 
old  routine,  and  that  there  would  be  no  more  talk  of  ante- 
diluvian crusades.  They  had  reckoned  without  Alexander,  for 
it  is  seldom  that  a  Philip  is  succeeded  by  an  Alexander. 

This  young  man  who  conquered  the  world  and  died  at  the 
age  of  thirty-three  has  quite  naturally  captivated  the  imagina- 
tion of  posterity  and  formed  a  model  for  ambitious  generals  of 
later  days.    Julius  Caesar  sighed  to  think  of  his  inferiority  in 
achievement.    Augustus  paid  a  visit  to  his  tomb,  and  wore  his 
portrait  on  a  ring.    Napoleon  consciously  imitated  him.    As  a 
soldier  he  was  not  only  an  organiser  of  victory,  though  of  course 
he  owed  a  great  deal  to  his  father  in  this  respect,  and  a  strategist 
with  an  eye  for  a  battlefield,  but  also  a  dashing  cavalry  leader, 
the  sort  of  man  to  ride  straight  for  the  enemy's  king,  to  be  the 
first  in  the  breach,  and  to  leap  down  alone  into  the  enemy's 
town.    He  did  this  sort  of  thing  with  impunity ;  he  never  lost 
a  battle.    He  was  chivalrous  to  ladies.     He  married  a  beau- 
tiful Eastern  princess  called  Roxana,  he  rode  a  beautiful  war- 
horse  called  Bucephalus.    If  Lysippus  and  Apelles  may  be 
trusted,  he  had  the  face  of  a  Greek  god.    He  had  just  that 
touch  of  dissipation  which  somehow  rounds  off  the  conception 
of  a  popular  hero.    He  had  the  good  fortune  to  die  young,  in 
the  hour  of  victory 

And  what  is  to  be  the  sober  historian's  estimate  of  this 
dazzling  person  ?  We  may  minimise  his  triumphs  by  pointing 
out  that  the  Persian  empire  was  helpless  before  him,  like  ripe 
fruit  waiting  to  be  gathered.  We  may  certainly  charge  him  with 
conquering  insanely  without  stopping  to  organise,  and  with 
neglecting  his  own  kingdom  and  failing  to  deal  adequately 
with  the  political  condition  of  old  Greece.  We  may  point  to 
the  extraordinarily  rapid  collapse  of  his  empire.  But  then  he 
died  suddenly  in  the  midst  of  his  work,  and  left  no  grown  heir 
to  succeed  him.  In  some  respects  I  think  we  must  all  admit 
that  he  showed  very  remarkable  gifts  of  statesmanship.  Though 
242 


THE  MACEDONIAN  WORLD 
half  a  barbarian  by  origin,  he  was  an  enthusiast  for  Hellenism, 
and  his  plan  was  to  spread  it  at  the  point  of  the  spear  all  over 
the  civilised  world.  When  he  destroyed  Thebes  he  spared  one 
house — the  house  of  Pindar.  It  was  as  a  missionary  of  Greek 
culture  that  he  marched  over  the  burning  deserts  of  Asia.  He 
took  poets  and  artists  in  his  train.  He  would  stop  his  march 
every  now  and  then  to  exhibit  Greek  athletics  and  Greek  arts 
to  the  wondering  Orientals.  He  planted  Greek  cities  wherever 
he  had  time  to  stop,  from  Alexandria  at  the  mouth  of  the  Nile 
to  Candahar  (another  version  of  his  name).  He  had  the  art 
which  makes  a  successful  apostle,  the  gift  of  being  all  things 
to  all  men.  In  Egypt,  the  land  of  religion  and  mystery,  he 
made  a  solemn  pilgrimage  into  the  desert,  and  got  himself 
accepted  as  the  son  of  the  god  called  by  the  Greeks  Amnion. 
In  Persia  he  recognised  the  merits  of  the  Persian  provincial 
system,  and  appointed  his  own  satraps,  or  even  retained  the 
existing  ones.  He  treated  Persian  women  with  the  deference 
to  which  they  were  accustomed,  and  added  one  to  his  household 
in  the  manner  to  which  they  were  also  accustomed.  His 
Macedonians  murmured  at  his  Oriental  dress  and  manners,  but 
Alexander  was  always  a  Greek  at  heart,  the  lines  of  Homer 
always  rang  in  his  ears,  and  he  fancied  himself  a  reincarnation 
of  Achilles  pursuing  his  Phrygian  Hectors  over  the  dusty  plains 
of  Troy.  He  was  mad,  no  doubt,  to  march  so  far  over  those 
weary  deserts  into  Turkestan,  through  those  dreadful  defiles  of 
the  Hindu  Khush.  Only  the  mutiny  of  his  army  turned  him 
back  when  he  reached  the  farthest  of  the  Five  Rivers  of  the 
Punjaub.  And  then  it  was  frantic  lunacy  to  lead  his  army 
home  along  the  burning  coasts  of  the  Persian  Gulf.  That  ex- 
perience taught  him,  it  seems,  a  lesson  which  he  might  well 
have  learnt  earlier,  namely,  the  value  of  sea-power  for  conquerors 
and  empire-builders.  When  he  died  he  was  projecting  a  naval 
expedition  along  the  coasts  of  Africa.  The  disaffection  of 
Athens  had  deprived  him  of  the  fleet  which  ought  to  have 
belonged  to  a  Panhellenic  army,  and  Alexander  had  been  forced 
to  destroy  the  Persian  fleet  by  a  siege  of  its  arsenal  and  head- 

243 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

quarters,  the  island  city  of  Tyre.  Most  conquerors  have  a 
touch  of  insanity,  no  doubt.  The  sanest  of  them  is  Julius 
Caesar,  and  the  maddest  is  Charles  XII.  But  Alexander  the 
Great  had  lucid  intervals  of  consummate  statesmanship.  It  is 
in  this  respect  that  he  differs  from  the  vulgar  type  of  adven- 
turer and  stands  among  civilising  conquerors  like  William  the 
Norman  with  his  Domesday  Book,  Napoleon  with  his  Code, 
and  Julius  Caesar  with  his  Julian  Laws  and  his  calendar.  This 
intellectual  suppleness  was  the  mark  of  Alexander's  Greek 
education,  though  it  still  remains  a  difficulty  to  trace  in  his 
career  the  influence  of  Aristotle,  his  tutor. 

On  his  death  at  Babylon  in  323  the  whole  empire  flew  to 
pieces.  He  had  unwisely  divided  his  veteran  armies  among 
his  various  generals,  and  each  of  them  found  himself  established 
as  the  monarch  of  a  large  territory.  Most  of  them  naturally 
desired  to  emulate  their  master  and  secure  as  much  of  his 
empire  as  they  could  for  themselves.  Out  of  the  confusing 
struggles  of  the  next  generation  three  great  kingdoms  gradually 
emerged:  that  of  Macedonia,  warlike  and  turbulent  undex 
various  shortlived  dynasties,  that  of  Asia,  huge  and  wealthy 
under  a  line  of  Seleucids,  and  that  of  Egypt  under  a  long 
family  of  Ptolemies.  All  these  kingdoms  were  mainly  Greek. 
In  the  country,  no  doubt,  Oriental  life  and  language  continued, 
but  in  the  towns  and  for  purposes  of  government  both  the 
language  and  the  civilisation  were  Greek.  Thus  Alexander 
had  done  his  work.  He  had  actually  added  the  whole  of  Asia 
Minor,  Phoenicia,  and  Egypt  to  the  Greek  world.  Curious 
traces  of  Hellenism  are  found  even  in  distant  India. 

In  this  world  of  "the  Successors,"  as  they  are  called,  the 
ancient  states  of  Greece  are  not  altogether  negligible.  Rhodes 
continued  to  be  free,  rich,  and  happy.  Athens,  as  I  have  re- 
marked, was  occasionally  oppressed  and  sometimes  enslaved  by 
the  Macedonian  rulers  to  the  north,  but  for  the  most  part  she 
continued  as  a  free  democracy,  conducting  her  own  affairs  as 
vehemently  as  ever,  thougn  new,  of  course,  as  a  second-class 
power.  Sparta  stood  sullenly  aloof,  joining  no  confederacies, 
244 


Manttll  f-  C«. 


Plate  84.  ALEXANDER  THE  GREAT 
(See  p.  246) 


i  A  144 


THE  MACEDONIAN  WORLD 
but  dreadfully  shrunken  in  population.  I  have  alluded  to  her 
notable  experiments  at  reform  in  the  third  century  under  Agis 
and  Cleomenes.  It  was  ended  by  the  crushing  defeat  at  Sellasia 
from  the  Achaean  League  and  the  Macedonians.  Towns  like 
Argos  and  Corinth  preserved  their  liberties  by  joining  the 
Leagues.  Epirus  was  a  new  Power  rising  to  fame  by  the  same 
road  as  Macedon  under  an  adventurous  king  called  Pyrrhus. 
He  unfortunately  turned  west  instead  of  east  in  his  search  for 
worlds  to  conquer,  and  there  met  another  rising  power,  a  race 
of  real  soldiers  who  made  short  work  of  the  Greek  phalanx, 
even  when  supported  by  heavy  cavalry  in  the  form  of  Indian 
elephants.  It  was  these  Romans  who,  when  they  came  in  due 
course  to  return  his  visit,  put  "  Finis"  to  this  chapter  of  Greek 
history,  and  proceeded  themselves  to  undertake  the  task  of 
writing  the  next.  • 

Alexander  in  Art 
We  have  numerous  works  of  art  which  portray  Alexander 
the  Great,  and  as  he  is  said  to  have  granted  the  sole  right  of 
depicting  his  royal  form  to  Lysippus  the  sculptor,  and  to  have 
commissioned  Apellcs  as  his  royal  painter,  we  may  presume  that 
most  of  the  portraits  go  back  to  an  original  by  one  of  these 
artists.  We  have  enough  description  of  the  pictures  by  Apellcs 
to  show  that  he  treated  his  model  with  all  the  obsequiousness 
of  a  court  painter.  There  was  Alexander  in  the  guise  of  Zeus 
wielding  the  thunderbolt,  Alexander  in  the  company  of  Nike 
and  the  Heavenly  Twins,  Alexander  leading  the  god  of  war  in 
triumph,  Alexander  mounted  on  Bucephalus.  The  only  relic 
which  may  give  us  an  idea  of  the  treatment  of  such  subjects  in 
pictorial  art  is  a  very  fine  mosaic  floor  at  Pompeii.*  It  repre- 
sents the  conqueror  charging  bareheaded  into  the  press  of  the 
Persian  bodyguard  at  Issus,  his  greatest  victory.  You  see 
Darius  in  his  Oriental  "mitre"  anxious  and  terrified,  just 
turning  his  chariot  out  of  the  battle.  The  scene  is  represented 
with  great  spirit,  and  Alexander's  face  is  happily  preserved. 

•  Hate  83. 

245 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
The  horses  in  particular  are  most  faithfully  rendered.  As 
part  of  the  mosaic  depicts  a  Nile  scene,  with  crocodiles,  ibis, 
snakes,  and  a  hippopotamus,  we  must  infer  that  the  original 
picture  was  made  in  Alexandria. 

The  same  scene  is  depicted  with  greater  brilliance  on  the 
famous  sarcophagus  from  Sidon.  On  one  side  of  it  Alexander 
and  Parmenio  are  fighting  the  Persians  at  Issus,  and  on  the 
other  side  they  are  engaged  in  a  lion  hunt.*  Few  works  of  art 
can  compare  with  this  monument  in  magnificence  or  in  historical 
interest.  It  is  especially  interesting  in  the  history  of  art 
because  it  gives  us  the  best  example  of  the  application  of  colour 
to  sculpture,  and  completely  justifies  that  process.f  It  also 
affords  fine  specimens  of  Greek  mouldings  and  designs.  The 
material  is  Pentelic  marble  imported  from  Athens.  This 
sarcophagus  is  now  in  the  museum  at  Constantinople. 

Of  the  many  busts  and  heads  of  Alexander,  none  gives  us 
a  very  favourable  example  of  the  work  of  Lysippus.  The  so- 
called  Dying  Alexander  is  hideously  strained  and  emotional. 
A  head  in  the  British  Museum,  however,  is  probably  nearer  to 
the  original,  though  the  very  short  upper  lip  and  the  heavy  jaw 
make  it  a  rather  unpleasing  portrait.^  We  are  told  that  Lysippus 
alone  was  permitted  to  make  portraits  of  Alexander,  because 
"  others  desiring  to  represent  the  bend  of  his  neck  and  the 
emotional  glance  of  his  eyes,  failed  to  render  his  manly  and 
leonine  aspect."  It  should  be  noted  that 
Lysippus  made  a  famous  group  of  Alexander's 
hunting,  and  another  of  Alexander's  troop  of 
horse,  so  that  the  Constantinople  reliefs  may 
go  back  to  Lysippean  originals. 

Alexander  was  worshipped  even  in  his 
lifetime  as  a  god.    He  claimed,  among  other 
Alexander  the  Great,  divine  claims,  to  be  a  son  of  Ammon.  In 
Thrace*    0  n  °    this  character  he  is  represented  with  the  ram's 
horns  of  that  Egyptian  deity  on  a  coin  of 
Thrace  cast  by  Lysimachus,  one  of  his  generals  and  successors. 
•  Plate  83.  t  Phte  86.  }  Plate  84. 

246 


TUzlillhalrr 

Plate  85.  relief  from  p-ergamlm  [p.  346 

(See  p.  251) 


THE  MACEDONIAN  WORLD 
Alexander  was  the  first  of  mortals  to  have  his  portrait  on  Greek 
coins,  and  it  is  only  in  virtue  of  the  divine  honours  paid  to  him 
that  this  is  conceded  even  to  the  conqueror  of  the  world. 
Many  of  the  later  kings  followed  his  example,  and  portraiture 
on  the  coins  now  becomes  common. 

Alexandria 

In  studying  the  early  civilisation  of  Europe,  which  means 
the  history  of  the  Mediterranean  peninsulas,  one  must  not 
forget  that  economically  Egypt  is  the  key  to  the  whole  position. 
In  natural  resources  it  is  far  the  richest  country  in  that  region. 
Hitherto,  however,  it  had  been  shut  off  from  the  rest  of  the 
world  by  its  own  peculiar  civilisation  and  religion,  though  the 
Greeks  had  occasionally  borrowed  ideas  from  it  and  sometimes 
interfered  in  its  historical  course.  Now  Alexander  gives  it  a 
Greek  government  and  a  Greek  capital.  In  order  to  crush  the 
Phoenician  fleet  which  had  been  the  principal  naval  support  of 
the  Persian  Empire,  he  had  been  compelled  to  destroy  the  city 
of  Tyre.  But  it  was  more  than  a  strategic  move.  He  in- 
tended the  commerce  and  sea-power  of  the  Levant  to  be  hence- 
forth in  Greek  hands.  He  succeeded  brilliantly  in  his  purpose. 
Phoenicia  passed  away  from  the  stage  of  history,  and  only 
survived  in  her  great  colony  of  Carthage. 

The  city  of  Alexandria  was  laid  out  on  a  mathematical 
plan  by  Greek  architects.  Its  situation  on  the  delta  of  the 
Nile  was  exceedingly  favourable  to  commerce,  especially  as  the 
difficult  navigation  of  its  waters  was  mitigated  by  the  con- 
struction of  a  great  lighthouse,  one  of  the  Seven  Wonders  of 
the  World.  In  the  division  of  the  empire  Egypt  had  the  good 
fortune  to  fall  to  the  share  of  Ptolemy,  a  wise  and  enlightened 
ruler,  as  were  most  of  his  descendants  of  the  same  name.  These 
all  pursued  a  policy  of  commerce  and  peaceful  expansion. 
There  was  brisk  traffic  between  Alexandria,  Rhodes,  Pergamum, 
Athens,  and  Syracuse,  and  Alexandria  grew  to  be  the  greatest 
city  in  the  world.  It  was  pre-eminently  Greek,  but  tinctured 
also  with  some  of  the  Orientalism  of  its  environment. 

247 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
Along  with  commerce  the  Ptolemies  cultivated  literature 
by  founding  a  sort  of  university  or  college  called  the  Museum. 
It  consisted  of  a  temple  of  the  Muses,  rooms  for  its  members,  a 
common  dining-hall,  cloistered  walks  for  the  peripatetic  teacher, 
and  above  all  of  a  magnificent  library,  for  which  the  kings  of 
Egypt  made  it  their  ambition  to  collect  all  the  books  in  the 
world.  Half  a  million  MSS.  were  gathered  there  in  the  third 
century.  The  chief  librarian  was  the  master  of  the  whole 
institution,  which  was  a  place  of  research  and  literary  pro- 
duction rather  than  of  education.  At  the  same  time  Ptolemy 
made  a  point  of  attracting  all  the  foremost  literary  men  of  the 
Greek  world  to  his  court.  It  cannot  be  denied  that  the  Alex- 
andrian culture  was  rich  and  vigorous.  Great  strides  were 
made  in  science  and  mathematics,  new  and  promising  forms  of 
literature  were  invented,  but  at  the  same  time  the  sheltered  air 
of  the  Museum  tended  to  produce,  as  is  inevitably  the  case 
with  collegiate  institutions,  a  rather  frigid  and  academic  type 
of  work.  At  Alexandria,  for  instance,  the  first  critics  arose, 
and  the  first  literary  scholars,  whose  task  was  mainly  to  eluci- 
date and  comment  upon  the  works  of  Homer.  One  of  these 
scholars  invented  the  Greek  system  of  breathings  and  accents 
to  help  in  the  recital  of  verse.  The  most  famous  of  all  of 
them  was  Aristarchus,  the  Father  of  Criticism.  In  science 
and  mathematics  we  must  mention  our  old  friend  Euclid, 
who  reigned  in  the  hearts  of  schoolboys  until  the  day  before 
yesterday.  Here  worked  Archimedes,  the  great  engineer 
and  founder  of  mechanics,  statics,  and  dynamics.  His  re- 
searches in  these  directions  remained  unequalled  until  the 
seventeenth  century  anno  Domini.  Wondrous  stories  are 
told  of  his  inventions  and  of  his  absent-mindedness.  Once 
as  he  was  entering  the  bath  the  overflowing  of  the  water 
gave  him  a  valuable  scientific  hint.  He  was  so  pleased 
that  he  forgot  to  dress,  but  ran  home  through  the  streets 
crying,  "Heureka!  Heureka!"  At  Alexandria,  too,  lived 
Eratosthenes,  who  first  measured  the  circumference  of  the 
earth  and  worked  out  a  system  of  chronology  for  history. 
248 


THE  MACEDONIAN  WORLD 
There  were  many  other  historians  of  lesser  repute  at  the 
Museum. 

In  poetry  Alexandria  is  connected  with  some  important 
developments,  chiefly  literary  revivals  of  ancient  modes.  Thus 
Apollonius  the  Rhodian  attempted  to  revive  the  epic,  and  wrote 
a  long  poem  in  hexameter  verse  on  the  Argonautic  expedition 
of  Jason.  It  is  of  course  rather  cold  and  formal,  it  is  a  long 
way  from  Homer,  but  it  is  of  considerable  merit  in  the  field  of 
poetry.  Alexandria  revived  also  the  elegiac  couplet,  chiefly 
for  short  epigrams,  some  of  which  have  the  beauty  and  colour 
of  a  Greek  gem.  We  may  see  for  an  example  that  epigram  of 
Callimachus  from  which  I  have  taken  the  couplet  at  the  head 
of  my  Introduction,  and  which  was  so  charmingly  translated 
by  William  Johnson  Cory.  I  quote  another  elegiac  epigram 
of  Meleager's  to  show  how  modern  in  tone  and  subject  these 
dainty  lyrics  had  become  in  the  first  century  B.C. : 

Poor  foolish  heart,  I  cried  '  Beware,' 
I  vowed  thou  wouldst  be  captured. 

So  fondly  hovering  round  the  snare, 
With  thy  false  love  enraptured. 

u  I  cried,  and  thou  art  caught  at  last, 
All  vainly  fluttcrest  in  the  toils. 
Lord  Love  himself  hath  bound  thee  fast 
And  meshed  thy  pinions  in  his  coils. 

"And  he  hath  set  thee  on  his  fire, 

In  drugs  thy  swooning  soul  immersed, 
In  stifling  perfumes  of  desire, 

With  scalding  tears  to  quench  thy  thirst.'* 

So  far  it  is  mainly  a  record  of  revivals,  but  in  Theocritus, 
who,  though  Sicilian  by  birth,  passed  most  of  his  active  career 
at  Alexandria,  we  have  the  inventor  of  a  new  and  most  important 
branch  of  literature.  With  him  pastoral  poetry  was  a  fresh 
and  genuine  creation.  His  Idylls  are,  as  their  name  implies, 
a  series  of  cameo  pictures  of  shepherd  life  in  Sicily.  We  have 
found  no  space  here  to  speak  of  the  later  developments  of 

249 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
Sicilian  history,  which  in  the  fourth  and  third  centuries  became 
once  more  a  desperate  battleground  between  Carthaginian 
invaders  and  clever  Syracusan  tyrants  like  Dionysius  and 
Agathocles.  It  is  strange  to  think  that  the  beautiful  rustic  life 
depicted  by  Theocritus  could  exist  among  the  hills  and  glens  of 
Sicily  in  spite  of  all  the  turmoil  of  history.  Mr.  Andrew  Lang 
has  completely  vindicated  Theocritus  from  the  charge  of 
artificiality  by  pointing  out  that  the  shepherds  of  modern 
Greece  sing  in  language  of  refined  and  impassioned  poetry  that 
is  perfectly  natural  and  spontaneous.  Large  parts  of  the  Idylls 
sound  like  quotations  of  such  songs  of  Nature.  Theocritus  was, 
of  course,  the  source  of  that  pastoral  convention  which  has  pro- 
duced so  much  that  is  artificial  in  art  and  literature  amid  much 
of  supreme  beauty.  We  think  at  once  of  Vergil,  Spenser, 
Sidney,  Milton,  Watteau,  and  the  Dresden  shepherdess. 
Theocritus  is  the  literary  father  of  all  these.  In  his  famous 
Fifteenth  Idyll,  which  describes  with  exquisite  humour  the 
conversation  of  a  pair  of  Sicilian  dames  going  to  see  a  festival 
of  Adonis  at  Alexandria,  we  have  the  characteristics  of 
another  literary  form — the  mime.  This  is  a  rudimentary 
style  of  drama  which  seeks  to  portray  little  genre  scenes  of 
life  with  no  attempt  at  a  plot.  Herondas  of  Cos  was  the 
principal  master  of  this  art. 

Two  pupils  of  Theocritus  were  Bion  and  Moschus,  both 
accomplished  elegiac  poets.  Bion's  dirge  for  Daphnis  and 
Moschus'  lament  for  Bion  have  provided  the  type  for  Vergil's 
lament  for  Daphnis,  for  Milton's  "Lycidas,"  for  Shelley's 
"Adonais,"  and  Matthew  Arnold's  "Thyrsis." 

Athens  and  her  Philosophers 
In  Alexandria,  then,  the  Hellenic  genius  was  as  fruitful  as 
ever.  But  it  was  growing  under  glass  there,  and  it  was  not 
pure  Occidental  culture.  We  have  to  think  of  the  Greek 
Ptolemies,  descended  from  Macedonian  generals,  as  on  the  one 
hand  writing  Greek  poetry  and  inviting  Greek  scholars  to 
criticise  it,  but  on  the  other  hand  accepting  homage  and 
250 


Plate  87.   APHRODITE  OF  ME  LOS  [VENUS  OF  MILO]  |  p.  250 

(Seep.  251) 


THE  MACEDONIAN  WORLD 
adulation  as  Eastern  potentates,  and  actually  marrying  their 
sisters  after  the  customary  manner  of  Pharaohs.  In  Egypt 
Father  Zeus  took  over  the  horns  of  Amen-Ra  and  became  Zeus 
Ammon.  Aphrodite,  the  foam-born  goddess,  assumed  her 
Oriental  nature  once  more  and  was  mated  with  young  Adonis 
in  weird  and  lascivious  Eastern  ritual.  Adonis  was  no  Grecian 
youth,  but  a  mystic  personification  of  the  spring,  and  his  wor- 
shippers tore  their  hair  and  made  lamentation  for  him  with  the 
same  frenzy  as  made  the  priests  of  Carmel  cut  themselves 
with  knives  in  honour  of  Baal.  All  over  Asia  Minor  Hellenism 
had  to  mingle  with  Asiatic  elements,  losing  in  the  contact  all 
its  fine  austerity  and  sweet  reasonableness.  Hence  was  born 
the  worship  of  Cybele,  an  Oriental  Great  Mother,  with  horrid 
mysteries  performed  by  priestly  eunuchs.  Even  the  sculpture 
with  which  the  wealthy  Attalids  adorned  their  great  altar  of 
Zeus  at  Pergamum,  though  Greek  in  plot  and  execution,  is 
of  almost  Asiatic  luxuriance  and  voluptuous  beauty.*  Passion 
and  effort  replace  calm  and  dignity  even  as  they  do  in  the 
new  Asiatic  schools  of  oratory.  Alexander's  violent  battering 
at  the  gates  which  separate  East  from  West  had  produced  a 
strange  hybrid  in  many  of  the  cities  of  Eastern  Greece. 

But  in  some  quarters  the  pure  Greek  spirit  still  produced 
lovely  and  reasonable  work  in  art  and  literature  alike.  It 
seems  to  me  impossible  to  think  of  degeneracy  in  connection 
with  the  Aphrodite  of  Melos,  known  to  the  public  as  the  Venus 
of  Milo.f  If  she  has  the  charm  and  suavity  of  Praxiteles,  she 
has  the  dignity  and  breadth  of  Pheidias.  Unless  you  follow  the 
pedants  who  make  some  point  of  the  arrangement  of  her 
drapery,  there  is  not  a  trait  of  vulgarity  in  her  aspect.  No 
doubt  if  we  had  the  original  Lady  of  Cnidos  we  should  know 
better,  but  at  present  this  superb  statue  rightly  stands  as  the 
embodiment  of  feminine  loveliness  in  statuary.  And  yet  all 
the  archaeological  indications  go  to  prove  that  her  author  lived 
at  the  very  end  of  the  second  century  in  the  Asiatic  city  of 
Antioch,  on  the  Maeander.    She  was  found  in  a  cavern  on  the 


•  Plate  85.  f  Plate  S7  and  Frontispiece. 

25I 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
little  island  of  Melos,  hidden  there  by  who  knows  what  devout 
worshipper  or  terrified  pirate  ?  She  is,  in  fact,  surrounded  with 
mystery.  No  one  has  succeded  in  restoring  her  missing  arms, 
though  far  the  most  plausible  theory  is  that  which  would  make 
her  hold  a  shield  for  a  mirror  in  the  same  manner  as  the 
Victory  of  Brescia.  No  one  has  found  anything  else  in  Greek 
sculpture  which  could  belong  to  the  same  artist,  or  even  to  the 
same  phase  of  art.  I  name  her  here  only  to  prove  that  you 
cannot  fairly  close  the  history  of  Greek  art  with  Praxiteles  or 
any  other  named  sculptors,  seeing  that  an  unnamed  artist  living 
two  centuries  later  could  produce  a  statue  on  the  same  plane 
of  excellence. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  figures  among  the  warriors  who 
followed  Alexander  was  Demetrius,  the  Besieger  of  Cities,  who 
gained  his  title  from  a  celebrated  but  unsuccessful  siege  of 
Rhodes.  He  gained  the  kingdom  of  Macedonia  and  enslaved 
Athens.  In  celebration  of  a  naval  victory  gained  by  him  in 
306  B.C.  he  set  up  at  Samothrace  a  wonderful  statue  of  Victory 
standing  on  the  prow  of  a  warship.*  Her  wings  are  outspread, 
her  drapery  is  blown  back  by  the  wind,  she  is  all  life  and  motion. 
Along  with  the  Venus  of  Milo  she  is  the  chief  glory  of  the 
sculpture  galleries  in  the  Louvre.  The  reader  should  compare 
her  with  that  earlier  Victory  fashioned  by  Paeonius.  He  will 
see  that  her  drapery  is  much  richer  and  the  whole  conception 
far  more  sensational.  Both  are  very  beautiful  statues,  but  a 
pure  taste  will  probably  prefer  the  earlier  one. 

In  all  this  period  the  dear  city  of  Pallas  had  not  suffered 
any  material  change.  She  had  lost  most  of  her  colonies  and 
maritime  possessions,  and  in  external  politics  she  was  but  a 
pawn  among  the  kings  of  Macedon  and  Egypt.  But  for  the 
most  part  she  remained  a  free  democracy,  governed  by  her  free 
Assembly.  The  Peiraeus  still  remained  an  important  centre  of 
commerce.  Intellectually  Athens  still  ruled  the  world  not  only 
in  virtue  of  her  past  achievements,  but  by  the  continuing  pre- 
eminence of  her  philosophers.     Her  principal  literary  product 

*  Plate  88. 

252 


Plate  88.    THE  VICTORY  OF  SAMOTHRACE  [/.  2Sa 

(See  p.  252) 


THE  MACEDONIAN  WORLD 
of  these  days  was  the  New  Comedy  of  Menander  and  his  school. 
Menander's  work  was  taken  over  bodily  by  the  Roman  poets 
Plautus  and  Terence,  who  did  little  more  than  translate  his 
comedies  into  Latin,  and  sometimes  weave  two  of  them  together 
into  one  play,  a  process  known  by  the  not  inappropriate  technical 
name  "contamination."  From  the  Roman  comedians  they 
passed  almost  direct  to  the  Elizabethan  age,  so  that  in  the 
history  of  the  drama  Shakespeare's  "  Measure  for  Measure  " 
begins  almost  where  Menander  left  off.  It  must  be  confessed 
that  the  large  fragments  of  Menander  recently  discovered  do 
not  raise  our  estimate  of  this  dramatist. 

If  we  turn  now  to  philosophy  we  find  the  great  name  of 
Aristotle  overshadowing  everything  else.*  If  we  have  a  true 
sense  of  historical  proportion,  we  shall  probably  admit  that  the 
words  of  Aristotle  have  conquered  the  world  in  far  truer  sense 
than  the  spears  of  his  great  pupil.  For  Aristotle  is  the  father 
of  the  inductive  method,  the  patron  saint  of  all  those  who 
observe  and  verify  facts  in  order  to  discover  the  laws  that 
control  them.  He  was  born  at  Stagira,  in  Thrace,  but  he  came; 
to  Athens  to  be  a  disciple  in  the  Academy,  that  pleasant  olive- 
grove  where  Plato  was  the  master.  Twenty  years  he  spent 
thus  in  study,  and  then  he  was  commissioned  by  Philip  to  beach 
Alexander  and  other  noble  youths  of  Macedon.  As  soon  as 
this  task  was  completed  he  returned  to  Athens,  and  there 
founded  his  famous  Peripatetic  school  of  philosophy,  so  called 
because  his  lectures  were  delivered  in  the  shady  walks  that 
surrounded  the  Lyceum.  In  the  morning  he  would  discuss 
abstruse  questions  with  an  inner  circle  of  adepts,  and  in  the 
cool  of  the  evening  deliver  polished  lectures  to  a  wider  circle. 
The  fame  of  his  teaching  was  spread  throughout  the  world, 
and  all  the  ablest  intellects  of  Greece  gathered  to  hear  him. 
All  his  life  he  received  the  most  generous  support  from  Alex- 
ander, who  made  a  point  of  collecting  strange  beasts  from  all 
quarters  to  enrich  his  zoological  studies.  The  attitude  of 
the  monarch  towards  learning  was  in  striking  contrast  to  the 

•  Plate  89. 

253 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

behaviour  of  the  Athenian  democracy.  Some  wretched  hiero- 
phant  instituted  a  prosecution  for  impiety  against  Aristotle, 
just  as  they  had  done  against  Socrates,  and  forced  him  to  with- 
draw from  Athens  for  the  closing  years  of  his  life. 

Aristotle  took  all  knowledge  as  his  province  and  pro- 
ceeded to  map  it  out  for  further  investigation.  It  is  impossible 
even  to  enumerate  all  his  extant  writings  here,  and  they  are 
only  a  small  part  of  what  he  wrote.  For  scientific  method  he 
wrote  on  Logic  and  Dialectic,  and  here  he  was  the  discoverer 
of  the  syllogism  and  distinguished  the  inductive  and  deductive 
methods  of  reasoning.  For  literature  he  dissected  Poetry  and 
Rhetoric,  laying  down  principles  which  all  subsequent  critics 
have  been  compelled  to  follow.  In  his  Ethics  he  defines  the 
nature  of  virtue  in  a  sense  that  is  truly  Hellenic.  Virtues  are 
the  mean  between  two  vices.  Thus  liberality  is  the  virtue  of 
which  prodigality  and  parsimony  are  the  extremes ;  courage 
is  the  mean  between  foolhardiness  and  cowardice.  For 
Natural  Science  he  wrote  the  first  treatise  on  zoology,  enu- 
merating about  500  different  species.  It  was  the  first  time  in 
the  history  of  the  world  when  men  had  thought  it  worth  while 
to  observe  the  world  around  them.  Most  of  this  scientific 
work  was  beyond  the  reach  of  mankind,  and  remained  so  for 
two  thousand  years.  The  Romans  studied  him,  but  scarcely 
advanced  a  step.  In  the  Dark  Ages  Europe  lost  even  the 
power  to,  follow  him,  and  much  of  his  teaching  was  recovered 
from  the  wise  men  of  Arabia.  The  mediaeval  schoolmen  were 
content  with  abridged  translations  for  their  scientific  know- 
ledge. It  was  not  until  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries 
that  Europe  came  again  to  be  able  to  study  and  understand 
him.  In  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  men  like  Bacon 
and  Newton  began  to  make  some  advance.  Even  now  he  is 
our  master  in  Logic,  in  Criticism,  and  above  all  in  Politics. 

Plato  had  treated  Political  Science  in  three  great  dialogues, 
the  greatest  of  which  is  "The  Republic."  The  ostensible 
object  of  this  work  is  to  define  the  nature  of  Justice,  and  in 
order  to  do  so  Socrates  and  his  friends  set  out  to  construct  an 
254 


THE  MACEDONIAN  WORLD 
Ideal  Republic.  Before  they  have  gone  very  far  it  is  evident, 
and  indeed  it  is  admitted,  that  such  a  state  as  they  envisage 
cannot  exist  upon  earth,  though  it  may  be  laid  up  in  the  heavens 
for  an  example.  It  is  a  small  Greek  city-state.  Plato  discerns 
three  elements  in  every  state,  the  producers,  the  warriors,  and 
the  thinking  element.  Of  these  he  makes  three  rigid  classes, 
though  education,  upon  the  importance  of  which  Plato  every- 
where insists,  is  to  provide  the  means  of  rising  for  all.  Music 
and  gymnastics  are  the  twofold  base  of  Platonic  education. 
The  thinking  part  of  the  community  are  to  have  the  sole  title  to 
government.  They  are  to  live  a  simple  communistic  life,  rather 
like  the  nobles  of  Sparta,  but  without  their  military  activity. 
In  order  that  nothing  may  disturb  their  absolute  unity,  Plato 
decrees  that  wives  and  children  are  to  be  held  in  common,  as 
well  as  all  property.  These  strange  doctrines  have  caused 
Plato  to  be  held  as  the  father  of  Socialism,  but  it  is  to  be 
observed  that  in  Plato  communism  is  only  advocated  for  a 
restricted  circle  of  aristocrats,  and  that  it  is  based  not  upon 
economic  considerations,  but  on  ethics  in  a  spirit  of  asceticism. 
In  a  later  dialogue  Plato  regretfully  admits  that  laws  are 
necessary  to  a  state,  seeing  that  you  cannot  keep  your  philo- 
sophers on  the  throne  when  you  have  got  them  there.  This 
admission  may  be  occasioned  by  the  failure  of  Plato  to  realise 
his  ideals  in  actual  practice.  He  had  an  extraordinary  chance. 
He  was  invited  over  to  Syracuse  to  mould  the  character  and 
policy  of  the  young  tyrant  Dionysius  II.  He  argued  that  it  was 
useless  to  place  an  ideal  system  of  government  before  a  young 
man  who  was  not  of  sufficient  education  to  appreciate  it.  He 
therefore  determined  to  begin  with  the  education  of  the  prince 
and  began  it  with  geometry.    The  issue  may  be  easily  guessed. 

Aristotle  approached  Politics  from  a  more  practical  stand- 
point. True  to  his  inductive  method,  he  first  collected  accounts 
of  all  the  existing  forms  of  government  in  the  Greek  world, 
more  than  a  hundred  in  number.  Unfortunately,  the  "Polity  of 
Athens,"  recently  discovered,  is  the  only  surviving  example 
Then  in  his  great  treatise  called  "The  Politics"  he  attempted  to 

255 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 

criticise  practical  statesmanship  from  a  scientific  standpoint, 
and  in  his  turn  also  constructed  something  like  an  ideal  state. 
For  him,  as  for  all  Greek  thinkers,  politics  was  only  a  branch 
of  ethics.  The  state  came  into  existence  for  the  sake  of  en- 
abling men  to  live ;  it  survives  for  the  purpose  of  enabling  men 
to  live  well.  The  object,  therefore,  of  the  statesman  is  to  get 
the  right  kind  of  people  at  the  head  of  affairs — and  that  means 
Aristocracy.  Viewing  all  Greek  society  from  the  philosopher's 
standpoint,  he  regarded  all  those  whose  economic  position 
required  them  to  be  mainly  interested  in  gaining  a  livelihood 
as  too  much  preoccupied  with  sordid  cares  to  possess  political 
virtue  or  to  be  fit  to  govern.  His  governing  class  is  therefore 
necessarily  the  rich  class,  just  as  it  was  with  Plato,  though 
neither  philosopher  would  admit  wealth  as  the  sole  or  even  the 
main  criterion.  Aristotle  regards  Monarchy  as  a  good  form  of 
government  also,  if  you  could  secure  that  the  monarch  should 
be  better  than  the  people  he  rules,  and  should  rule  for  their 
advantage,  not  his  own.  There  is  also  a  good  form  of  Re- 
public or  Free  Constitution,  in  which  the  whole  body  of  the 
citizens  take  their  turn  in  office.  But  each  of  these  three  sound 
forms  of  government  has  its  own  special  danger — Aristocracy 
degenerates  into  Oligarchy  when  the  few  rule  for  their  own 
advantage,  Monarchy  into  Tyranny,  and  the  Free  Constitution 
into  Democracy. 

It  is  evident  in  all  his  writings  that  he  regards  the  Athenian 
government  as  a  bad  one,  but  we  must  remember  that  he  only 
saw  it  in  its  decline.  The  most  valuable  part  of  his  teaching 
is  that  wherein  he  defines  the  state  as  a  partnership,  not  in  all 
things,  but  only  in  those  things  which  concern  its  telos — the 
good  life.  Also,  it  is  made  up,  not  of  individuals,  but  of  smaller 
partnerships  such  as  the  family.  It  is  on  these  grounds  that  he 
criticises  the  doctrine  of  communism.  Since  the  whole  object  ; 
of  political  life  is  to  secure  moral  completeness,  it  is  obvious 
that  the  citizen  does  not  surrender  his  whole  being  to  the  state. 
Thus  both  philosophers  are  alike  in  putting  aside  the  claims 
of  the  working  classes,  who,  it  must  not  be  forgotten,  largely 
256 


Plate  90.  THE  PORTLAND  VASE 
(See  p.  263) 


[/>•  25* 


THE  MACEDONIAN  WORLD 

consisted  of  slaves.  Both  are  therefore  aristocratic.  Both 
look  upon  the  state  as  existing  for  moral  rather  than  economic 
ends.  Both  regard  the  laws  and  constitution  as  something 
sacred  and  clearly  beyond  the  reach  of  the  citizens.  Neither 
of  them  has  conceived  the  idea  of  political  progress,  which, 
indeed,  is  an  idea  of  very  modern  origin.  Such  was  the  philo- 
sophic ideal  of  the  city-state,  in  some  respects  better  and  in 
some  respects  worse  than  our  own. 

After  Aristotle  Greek  political  thinkers  took  up  and  de- 
veloped the  hints  he  drops  as  to  the  Mixed  Constitution,  in 
which  the  three  elements  Monarchic,  Aristocratic,  and  Demo- 
cratic are  to  be  subtly  mingled  as  they  were  in  Sparta  and 
Rome. 

Other  schools  of  philosophy  arose  at  Athens  which  from 
their  more  vital  influence  upon  the  lives  and  actions  of 
ordinary  men  are  quite  as  important  in  the  history  of  human 
civilisation.  Zeno  founded  in  the  Stoa  Poikilc  of  Athens  the 
Stoic  philosophy,  and  Epicurus  taught  the  doctrines  which  bore 
his  name,  at  the  same  time  when  Aristotle  was  lecturing  in  the 
Lyceum  and  the  successor  of  Plato  in  the  Academy.  Both 
were  largely  concerned  with  the  rules  for  right  conduct  in  life. 
The  Stoics  taught  that  wisdom  and  virtue  are  the  true  goal  of 
man.  Virtue  consists  in  living  according  to  Nature,  and  it 
becomes  the  business  of  the  wise  man  to  discover  what  is 
essential  and  distinguish  it  from  what  is  merely  accidental  and 
ephemeral.  Pleasure,  praise,  even  life  itself,  are  among  things 
accidental.  At  its  best  Stoicism  insisted  very  sternly  upon 
duty,  and  the  contempt  of  pain  and  death.  In  this  way  it 
seized  upon  all  that  was  noblest  in  the  Roman  character  and 
raised  up  under  the  Empire  a  series  of  martyrs  who  alone 
withstood  the  tyrants  because  they  were  not  afraid  of  death. 
It  approaches  the  sublime  in  the  mouths  of  Marcus  Aurelius 
and  Epictetus.  Filtering  through  the  Asiatic  temperament  and 
mingling  in  its  course  with  the  higher  teaching  of  Pharisaism, 
it  did  much  to  form  the  philosophy  of  a  certain  Jew  of  Tarsus, 
and  through  him  has  vitally  influenced  Christianity.    In  another 

r  257 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
sphere  its  insistence  upon  Natural  Law  bore  fruit  in  Roman 
jurisprudence  and  lies  at  the  base  of  all  the  legal  systems  of 
Europe. 

Epicurus,  on  the  other  hand,  made  pleasure  the  end  of  life, 
not  the  mere  bodily  pleasure  with  which  his  name  has  been 
associated,  but  that  which  in  the  sum  of  its  moments  goes  to 
form  what  we  call  happiness.  It  was  necessary  to  happiness 
that  men  should  cast  off  all  the  degrading  fears  born  of  super- 
stition and  know  that  the  gods — if  indeed  gods  exist — are  too 
much  occupied  themselves  in  enjoying  celestial  happiness  to 
condescend  to  punish  and  afflict  the  mortals  under  their  feet. 
So  the  Epicureans  accepted  a  material  theory,  largely  due  to 
Democritus,  which  explained  the  universe  on  atomic  principles. 
Death  was  merely  the  resolution  of  body  and  soul  into  their 
primordial  atoms.  The  less  noble  spirits  among  them  un- 
doubtedly taught  the  maxim  "  Let  us  eat  and  drink,  for  to- 
morrow we  die,"  but  in  such  a  mind  as  that  of  the  Roman 
poet  Lucretius  Epicureanism  is  a  fine  and  lofty  thing,  with 
its  fearless  spirit  of  inquiry  and  its  bitter  scorn  of  super- 
stition. 

We  should  mention  also  the  Cynics,  whose  chief  teacher 
was  Diogenes,  for  they  inculcated  a  contempt  for  pleasure  and 
an  asceticism  which  led  some  of  them  to  live  a  hermit  life,  or, 
like  mendicant  friars,  to  carry  neither  staff  nor  scrip  and  to 
take  no  thought  for  their  raiment.  Needless  to  say,  Cynicism 
never  became  a  popular  doctrine. 

It  is  evident,  then,  that  intellectual  life  was  still  in  full 
vigour  at  Athens  in  the  third  century.  But  there  was  a 
weakening  already  visible.  These  Greeks  could  still  think 
clearly,  even  nobly,  but  it  was  not  until  they  made  Roman 
converts  that  noble  thoughts  could  be  translated  into  noble 
action.  As  for  the  Greeks,  their  restless  tongues  and  subtle 
brains  carried  them  away  into  logic-chopping  and  childish  love 
of  paradox.  There  was  a  day  when  Athens  sent  on  an 
embassy  to  Rome  the  three  heads  of  her  chief  schools  of 
philosophy.  Their  brilliant  discourses  charmed  and  amazed 
s58 


THE  MACEDONIAN  WORLD 

the  simple  Romans.  Carneades  proved  that  virtue  was  profit- 
able, and  the  Romans  were  delighted.  On  the  next  day  he 
proved  that  it  was  unprofitable,  and  the  Romans  were  astonished. 
Cato,  however,  the  truest  Roman  of  them  all,  thought  that 
Rome  was  better  without  such  brilliant  visitors.  And  he  was 
probably  right. 


259 


vn 


EPILOGUE 

fi  rrdXty  rjpiov  ...  to  ran  'EWrjvcov  ovofia  ntiro'irjKt 
fUjKtn  tov  ytvovs  aWa  rijs  diavolas  done'tv  fivai,— 
I  SOCRATES. 

T  was,  according  to  Isocrates,  the  fruit 
of  the  activity  of  Athens  that  Hellas 
had  ceased  to  be  a  geographical  ex- 
pression and  had  become  the  defini- 
tion of  an  intellectual  standpoint.  In 
that  very  true  sense  Greek  history 
cannot  close.  It  falls  into  chapters 
which  are  ever  to  be  continued  as 
soon  as  man  begins  to  think  again. 
Whosoever  from  the  beginning  of  his  action  already  contem- 
plates its  final  end  and  adapts  his  means  thereto  in  earnest 
simplicity,  whosoever  knows  that  pride  and  vain  ostentation 
will  assuredly  bring  its  own  punishment,  of  whatever  land  or  age 
he  may  be,  he  is  a  Greek.  In  that  sense  we  cannot  close 
Greek  history.  Greece,  as  Horace  said  in  a  very  hackneyed 
phrase,  vanquished  the  Roman,  her  barbarian  conqueror,  and 
the  Roman  took  up  the  mission  of  extending  Hellenism  over 
the  West.  The  history  of  Roman  civilisation  only  begins  in 
the  second  century,  when  Rome  was  first  brought  into  contact 
with  Greece.  Elsewhere  I  hope  we  shall  see  how  Greek 
culture  permeated  everything  at  Rome  after  that,  supplied  her 
with  art  and  literature,  taught  her  philosophy,  overlaid  and 
almost  destroyed  her  native  religion,  and  even  wrote  her 
history.  Losing  Hellas,  Europe  sank  into  ages  of  darkness: 
recovering  her,  the  European  nations  began  to  think  again. 
260 


EPILOGUE 

Shakespeare  we  trace  through  the  Latins  to  Menander,  Milton 
through  Vergil  to  Homer  and  Theocritus,  Bacon  to  Aristotle, 
Sir  Thomas  More  to  Plato,  and  so  with  the  others.  So  that 
every  one  who  reads  books  or  enjoys  art  in  Europe  to-day 
is  indirectly  borrowing  from  Greece. 

Moreover,  it  is  fairly  obvious  that  Greece  has  not*. ceased 
to  exist  as  a  geographical  expression.  The  more  we  study 
modern  Greece,  the  more  we  are  convinced  that  the  Hellenic 
race  is  by  no  means  extinct.  Greece  was,  it  is  true,  conquered 
by  the  Romans  in  146  b.c.  They  had  been  forced  partly  by 
the  aggression  of  Pyrrhus  and  partly  by  the  expansion  of  their 
own  empire  to  take  some  action  in  the  Eastern  Mediterranean. 
There  they  found  themselves  physically  as  men  among  children, 
intellectually  as  children  among  men.  Nothing  is  more  striking 
than  the  almost  reverent  spirit  in  which  the  Roman  soldiers 
first  moved  about  among  the  old  cities  of  Greece.  But  the 
Greeks  were  impossible  neighbours,  and  at  last,  after  infinite  for- 
bearance, the  Romans  were  compelled  by  their  masculine  sense 
of  order  to  take  the  responsibility  of  controlling  Greece.  Corinth 
was  destroyed  for  a  warning,  Macedonia  made  a  province. 
But  cities  like  Athens  and  Sparta  were  left  to  govern  them- 
selves, though,  of  course,  their  foreign  policy  was  subject  to 
Roman  control.  Athens  still  continued  to  talk  and  write  and 
teach.  She  became  a  sort  of  university  town  to  which  noble 
Romans  were  sent  for  their  studies.  Even  when  Achaia  was 
added  to  the  list  of  Roman  provinces  in  the  days  of  Augustus 
it  did  not  mean  that  Athens  ceased  to  be  a  free  city.  In  the 
days  of  the  Empire  the  more  cultured  emperors,  like  Nero  and 
Hadrian,  loved  to  pass  their  time  in  Greece,  in  the  attempt  to 
share  in  her  intellectual  prestige.  So  we  have  Nero  performing 
in  the  Olympian  Games,  and  Hadrian  rebuilding  a  large  part 
of  Athens.  It  was  Hadrian  who  attempted  to  complete  the 
gigantic  temple  of  Olympian  Zeus  begun  by  Peisistratus.  The 
Athenian  schools  of  philosophy  continued  to  attract  strangers 
from  all  parts  of  the  world,  until  Christianity  began  to  see  its 
bitterest  foe  in  the  Stoics,  who  taught  many  of  its  doctrines. 

261 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
Julian  the  Apostate  dreamed  for  a  moment  of  reviving  Greek 
philosophy,  so  as  to  overcome  Christianity  by  borrowing  many 
of  its  doctrines,  but  at  last  a  decree  of  Justinian  closed  the 
Athenian  schools  of  philosophy  in  a.d.  529.  Meanwhile  clouds 
of  barbarian  invaders  were  continually  passing  over  the  land. 
The  Goths  ravaged  Greece  under  Alaric.  The  Slavs  con- 
quered and  peopled  a  great  part  of  it  without,  in  the  long  run, 
materially  altering  its  nationality.  Norman  invaders  conquered 
it,  and  not  long  before  our  own  conquest  Harold  Hardrada 
entered  Athens  in  triumph.  Then  came  the  Latin  crusaders 
and  Venetians.  All  through  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth 
centuries  there  were  Frankish  Dukes  of  Athens.  In  1456  the 
Caliph  Omar  conquered  her,  and  thenceforth,  with  a  temporary 
period  of  Venetian  triumph,  the  Turks  ruled  Greece  with  a 
heavy  hand  until  the  glorious  War  of  Independence,  in  which 
Lord  Byron  played  a  part  of  prophet  and  warrior.  In  1830 
Greece  was  declared  an  independent  kingdom,  and  shortly 
afterwards  provided  with  a  youthful  European  king  from 
Bavaria.  The  experiment  was  not  a  success.  The  Greeks 
succeeded  in  getting  rid  of  one  king,  and  Europe  obligingly 
furnished  another  from  her  inexhaustible  stock  of  younger  sons. 
In  1897  the  little  kingdom  plunged  into  a  war  with  her  big 
neighbour,  Turkey,  for  which  she  lacked  resources  and 
organisation.  Her  flanks  were  turned,  her  armies  miserably 
routed,  and  she  lost  a  great  deal  of  the  credit  she  had  won  in 
the  War  of  Independence.* 

We  have  already  seen  that  Greek  art  still  crops  out  in 
occasional  masterpieces  down  to  imperial  times.  With  litera- 
ture this  is  still  more  the  case.  Long  after  the  best  of  Roman 
literature  was  over  and  done  with,  Greece  kept  putting  forth 
new  products.  The  Greek  novel,  for  example,  in  Lucian  and 
Heliodorus  is  something  entirely  fresh  and  of  great  importance 
in  literary  history.    The  biographies  of  Plutarch  are  a  new 

*  Since  these  words  were  written  the  victorious  wars  of  1912  and  1913  have 
completely  restored  the  prestige  of  Greek  arms  and  greatly  increased  her 
territory  and  resources. 
262 


.   THE  FARNESE  BULL 
(See  p.  265) 


EPILOGUE 

departure ;  so  are  the  guide-books  of  such  writers  as  Pausanias. 
The  case  of  Lucian,  in  particular,  shows  that  a  Syrian  of 
the  second  century  a.d.  could  write  in  pure  Attic  Greek.  In 
him  we  have  the  prototype  of  Swift  and  Sterne,  a  brilliant 
mocker  and  a  creative  genius.  With  him  Greek  literature 
expired  laughing. 

It  only  remains  to  glance  at  the  decadence  of  Greek  art  and 
to  see  what  form  it  took.  The  Romans,  when  they  plundered 
and  sacked  Corinth,  transported  enormous  quantities  of  plunder 
to  Rome,  and  a  taste  for  Greek  art  quickly  sprang  up  among 
the  wealthy  senators.  To  meet  their  tastes,  Greek  artists  were 
set  to  work.  Some  of  their  works,  in  the  form  of  portraits,  we 
shall  meet  again  when  we  come  to  deal  with  Rome.  Greek 
architects  also  evolved  a  Graeco-Roman  style,  in  which  they 
blended,  sometimes  with  the  happiest  results,  massive  Roman 
strength  with  Greek  elegance  and  grace.  In  minor  crafts  such 
as  gem-engraving  Greek  artists  continued  to  produce  exquisite 
work  for  the  Roman  market.  The  famous  Portland  Vase  is  a 
good  example  of  this  sort  of  work.*  Although  the  material  is 
glass,  it  is  genuine  cameo-engraving,  and  must  have  involved 
infinite  labour.  The  material  of  the  vase  was  composed  of  two 
layers  of  glass,  white  over  dark  blue,  and  then  the  white  was 
ground  away  by  hand,  so  as  to  leave  the  design  in  white  upon 
the  blue  background,  a  scheme  of  decoration  imitated  with 
great  success  by  the  Wedgwood  artists.  It  is  one  of  the 
tragedies  of  the  British  Museum  that  this  priceless  treasure  was 
smashed  to  pieces  by  an  insane  visitor.  It  has,  however,  been 
repaired  with  great  skill.  In  the  Greek  cities  of  South  Italy 
where  the  taste  of  the  patrons  remained  Greek  we  find  preserved, 
as  at  Pompeii  and  Herculaneum,  works  thoroughly  Greek  in  all 
branches  of  art,  produced  at  various  dates  down  to  the  first 
century  a.d.  Given  good  taste  in  the  patron,  Greek  artists  did 
not  cease  to  be  capable  of  fine  art. 

But  every  national  virtue  has  its  characteristic  defect  which 
will  come  to  the  surface  as  soon  as  the  stimulus  of  national 
self-respect  is  removed.    A  strong  conquering  breed  is  apt  to 

•  Plate  90. 

263 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
become  cruel  and  vicious  when  it  loses  the  power  to  conquer, 
A  sensitive,  artistic  people  is  prone  to  sensuality  and  weakness 


The  Laocoon  Group 


in  its  latter  days.  An  industrious  commercial  race  degenerates 
into  sordid  greed.  That  is  why  a  loss  of  national  pride  is  such 
a  serious  loss  in  history.  A  characteristic  virtue  of  the  Greeks 
was,  as  we  have  seen,  their  supple  facility  of  intellect,  their 
264 


EPILOGUE 

adaptability  to  environment.  This  made  them,  in  the  days  of 
their  decline,  sink  readily  to  the  position  of  flatterers  and 
parasites.  We  find  this  character  attached  to  the  "  Hungry 
Greekling  "  of  Juvenal's  days.  In  history  we  meet  him  as  the 
hanger-on  of  aristocracy  or  the  crafty  tool  of  emperors.  The 
Romans  started  as  a  virile  race  of  warriors,  and  ended  as  brutal 
gluttons  with  a  craving  for  sensationalism,  which  the  Greeks 
were  only  too  ready  to  supply.  Hence  we  get  Graeco-Roman 
art  in  the  worst  sense  of  the  term,  wretched  stuff  made  by 
sneaks  to  satisfy  the  taste  of  bullies.  Most  of  the  sculpture 
galleries  of  Europe  can  supply  examples.  The  Vatican  and  the 
Naples  Museum  are  full  of  them.  In  the  nineteenth  century, 
when  the  taste  of  Europe  had  sunk  to  its  lowest  depth  of  arti- 
ficiality, work  of  this  kind  appealed  very  strongly  to  critics. 
It  is  only  fair  to  them  to  say  that  they  had  not  much  oppor- 
tunity of  knowing  better,  since  genuine  Greek  work  of  the  best 
periods  was  mostly  lying  below  the  surface  unexcavated.  Out 
of  this  mass  of  inferior  material  critics  picked  one  or  two 
examples  for  admiration.  Even  great  men  like  Leasing 
and  Winckelmann  based  excellent  maxims  of  criticism  on 
these  rotten  foundations.  The  "  Laocoon,"  a  sensational  work 
by  Rhodian  sculptors  of  the  first  century  B.C.,  was  taken  by 
Lessing  as  the  text  of  his  great  discourse  on  the  proper 
functions  of  the  arts.  We,  on  the  other  hand,  can  see  that 
this  tangled  triangle  of  writhing  forms  expressing  violent 
emotion  of  pain  and  terror  has  a  theatrical  and  sensational 
character  abhorrent  to  the  very  spirit  of  Greek  moderation. 
Exactly  the  same  is  true  of  the  two  Farnese  masterpieces,  the 
Bull*  and  the  Hercules.  Such  facts  as  these  give  one  cause  to 
ponder  on  the  mutability  of  taste  and  the  fallibility  of  artistic 
criticism.  Restlessness,  the  symptom  of  nerves  overwrought,  is 
a  feature  of  decadence,  which  we  can  observe  in  the  late  Greek 
vase-paintings.  The  spaces  are  covered  with  trivial  orna- 
ment, the  drawing  is  slack,  the  sole  aim  is  prettiness.  The 
vigour  of  the  composition  is  frittered  away  upon  trivial  details. 

♦  Plate  91. 

265 


THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  GREECE 
In  short,  the  name  of  the  disease  from  which  Greek  art  was 
to  perish  is  Vulgarity.    Idealism  without  romanticism  was  the 
secret  of  Greek  art  at  its  best.    When  we  find  romance  without 
ideals  we  have  reached  the  nadir. 


Late  Greek  Vase-painting :  from  a  Ptlike  in  the  British  Museum. 

266 


GLOSSARY 

For  explanation  of  words  marked  A  refer  to  the  architectural  diagrams  on  page  107. 
The  accents  and  quantity-marks  are  explained  on  page  274. 

Acroterion,  A. 

&gis,  a  breastplate  adorned  with  the  head  of  a  Gorgon  and  a  fringe 

of  serpents,  an  attribute  of  Zeus  and  Athena. 
Agora,  market-place. 

Amphictyony,  neighbouring  states  grouped  in  a  religious  union. 
Amphiprostyle,  a  building  with  columned  porch  at  both  ends. 
Aniconic,  without  images,  an  early  stage  of  religion. 
Anthropomorphism,  the  religious  habit  of  representing  gods  as 

men. 
Architrave,  A. 

Archbn,  a  ruler  or  magistrate  ;  a  board  of  nine  at  Athens. 
Arete,  virtue  ;  strictly,  the  quality  of  a  man. 
Auletris,  female  player  on  the  clarinets. 
BacrtXeii,  kings  or  chiefs. 

Caduceits,  the  snake-wreathed  wand  carried  by  Hermes. 

Caryatid,  a  column  carved  to  represent  a  maiden. 

Cella,  the  nave  or  main  chamber  of  a  temple. 

Chiton,  a  tunic  fastened  on  the  left  shoulder. 

Chlamys,  a  short  mantle  worn  by  Spartans  and  soldiers. 

Chthonic  animism,  worship  of  subterranean  spirits,  generally  includ- 
ing cult  of  the  dead  and  of  the  reproductive  powers  of  Nature. 

Choregus,  the  man  who  equipped  a  chorus  for  a  stage  play  ;  generally 
a  man  of  wealth  on  whom  this  duty  was  laid  as  a  sort  of  tax. 

Chryselepctiiiiiie,  made  of  gold  and  ivory. 

Decadi  aclim,  a  coin  of  ten  drachms  (francs). 

Dime,  a  parish. 

Doma,  house-place,  resembling  the  medieval  hall. 
Ecclesia,  the  Athenian  assembly. 
Echinus,  A. 

Entablature,  that  part  of  a  classical  building  which  rests  upon  the 
columns  and  supports  the  roof ;  it  includes  architrave  and 
frieze. 

267 


GLOSSARY 


Entasis,  a  system  of  optical  correction  employed  in  Greek  architec- 
ture (see  page  161). 
Ephebus,  a  youth  of  about  eighteen. 
Ephorate,  the  board  of  "  overseers  "  at  Sparta. 
7i9oi,  character,  spiritual  quality. 


Guttce,  A. 

Harmosts,  Spartan  governors  of  conquered  cities. 
Hegemony,  leadership,  undefined  suzerainty. 
Hexastyle,  with  six  columns. 
Hierophant,  a  priest  of  the  mysteries. 
Hoplites,  heavy  armed  infantry. 

In  antis,  columns  at  the  end  of  a  building,  between  the  ends  of 

the  side  walls  produced,  are  said  to  be  in  antis. 
Iconic,  with  images,  a  stage  of  religious  worship. 
Kuanos,  a  blue  transparent  paste,  resembling  glass. 
Kylix,  a  goblet. 

Lecythus,  oil-jar,  a  certain  shape  of  Greek  pottery. 
Liturgy,  a  public  duty  imposed  as  a  tax  upon  the  rich. 
Megaron,  hall. 
Metopes,  A. 

Palaestra,  wrestling-ground. 

Parabdsis,  an  ode  sung  by  the  chorus  in  Greek  drama  at  their 

entrance  on  the  stage. 
Peplos,  a  long  female  robe  or  mantle. 

Perioikoi,   neighbours,  the  second  class  in   the   Spartan  caste 
system. 

Peripteral,  surrounded  with  colonnades. 

Peristyle,  the  colonnades  surrounding  a  building. 

Pictographic  script,  a  form  of  writing  in  which  the  symbols  are 

rudimentary  pictures. 
Pnyx,  a  hill  at  Athens,  where  the  Assembly  met. 
Prodomos,  fore-court. 
Satrap,  a  Persian  viceroy. 

Skolion,  a  drinking-song  in  which  the  guests  took  part  in  turns. 
Stasis,  civil  strife,  party-feeling,  treason. 

Stele,  a  monument  in  the  form  of  an  erect  slab,  a  gravestone. 
Strdtegoi,  generals,  an  Athenian  magistracy. 

Strigil,  an  instrument  used  by  athletes  for  scraping  off  the  oil  and 
sand  of  the  Palaestra. 


Senate  and  senators  of  Sparta. 


268 


GLOSSARY 

Stylobate,  the  floor  from  which  the  columns  rise  (A). 
Telos,  goal  or  end  in  view. 

Thdldmos,  inner  chamber,  bed-chamber  of  the  master  of  the  house. 

Thalassocracy,  maritime  supremacy. 

Tholos,  a  vault  or  dome,  any  round  building. 

Triglyphs,  A. 

Xodnon,  an  image  mainly  in  the  form  of  a  tree-trunk. 


269 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

[The  following  list  of  books  will  serve  two  purposes,  as  a  guide  to  the 
reader  who  wishes  to  enquire  further  on  any  special  point,  and  as  an 
acknowledgment  of  some  of  the  obligations  of  the  writer.  Only  works  in 
English  are  here  included.] 

General  Histories  of  Greece 

Bury,  Professor  J.  B.  A  History  of  Greece.  Macmillan. 

The  most  up-to-date  "  student's  history  " ;  copiously  illustrated ; 
a  storehouse  of  facts  in  narrow  compass.    Second  Edition  1914. 

Grote,  G.  History  of  Greece,  From  the  Earliest  Times 
to  the  Death  of  Alexander.    10  vols.  Murray. 

Holm,  Adolf.  The  History  of  Greece  from  its  Com- 
mencement to  the  Close  of  the  Independence  of  the 
Greek  Nation.  Translated  by  F.  Clark.  4  vols. 
Macmillan. 

Short  chapters  with  elaborate  notes,  written  from  a  liberal  and 
sympathetic  point  of  view. 

Cotterill,  H.  B.    Ancient  Greece.    Harrap.    191 3. 

Special  Works  on  the  Early  Periods 

Burrows,  Professor  R.  M.  The  Discoveries  in  Crete 
and  their  Bearing  on  the  History  of  Ancient  Civili- 
sation. Murray. 

Evans,  Sir  Arthur.  Principal  work  of,  is  to  be  found 
in  the  Annuals  of  the  British  School  at  Athens. 
Macmillan. 

Grundy,  Dr.  G.  B.  The  Great  Persian  War  and  its 
Preliminaries.  A  Study  of  the  Evidence,  Literary 
and  Topographical.  Murray. 

270 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Hall,  H.  R.    The  Oldest  Greek  Civilisation. 
Lang,  Andrew.    Homer  and  his  Age.  Longmans. 
Mosso,  Angelo.     The  Palaces  of  Crete  and  their 

Builders.    Fisher  Unwin. 
Murray,  Professor  Gilbert.    The  Rise  of  the  Greek 

Epic.    Clarendon  Press. 
Ridgeway,  Professor  W.    The  Early  Age  of  Greece. 

2  vols.    Cambridge  University  Press. 
 Minos  the  Destroyer  rather  than  the  Creator  of  the 

so-called  Minoan  Culture  of  Cnossos.    (A  lecture 

delivered  before  the  British  Academy,  May  26, 

1909.) 

Politics 

Barker,  E.     The   Political    Thought   of   Plato  and 

Aristotle.  Methuen. 
Ferguson,  W.  S.     Greek   Imperialism.  Constable. 

1914. 

Fowler,  W.  Warde.  The  City  State  of  the  Greeks  and 
Romans.  Macmillan. 

Greenidge,  A.  H.  J.  A  Handbook  of  Greek  Con- 
stitutional History.  Macmillan. 

Whibley,  L.  Greek  Oligarchies :  their  Organisation 
and  Character.  Methuen. 

 Political  Parties  in  Athens  during  the  Pelopon- 

nesian  War.  Prince  Consort  Dissertation.  1888. 
Cambridge  University  Press. 

Zimmern,  A.  E.  The  Greek  Commonwealth.  Clarendon 
Press.    191 1. 

Mythology  and  Religion 

Adam,  J.    The  Religious  Teachers  of  Greece.    T.  and 

T.  Clark.  1908. 
Farnell,  L.  R.    The  Cults  of  the  Greek  States.   5  vols. 

Clarendon  Press. 
 The  Higher  Aspects  of  Greek  Religion.  Williams 

and  Norgate.    191 2. 

271 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Frazer,  Sir  J.  G.    Adonis,  Attis,  Osiris.  Macmillan. 
Harrison,  Jane  E.,  and  Verrall,  M.  deG.  Mythology 

and  Monuments  of  Ancient  Athens.  1890. 
Harrison,  Jane  E.    Prolegomena  to  the  Study  of  Greek 

Religion.    Cambridge  University  Press. 
Lawson,  J.  C.    Modern  Greek  Folklore  and  Ancient 

Greek  Religion.    Cambridge  University  Press. 
Reinacii,  Salomon.    Orpheus.    A  General  History  of 

Religions.  Heinemann. 

Sculpture  and  A  rt 

Gardner,  Professor  E.  A.     A  Handbook  of  Greek 

Sculpture.    New  Edition,  with  Appendix.    In  two 

Parts  ;  Appendix  separately.  Macmillan. 
Jones,  H.  Stuart.     Select   Passages  from  Ancient 

Writers,    Illustrative  of  the    History  of  Greek 

Sculpture.  Macmillan. 
Murray,  A.  S.     A  Handbook  of  Greek  Archaeology. 

Murray. 

Perrot  and  Chipiez.  History  of  Art  in  Primitive 
Greece.    2  vols.    Chapman  and  Hall. 

Waldstein,  Charles.  Essays  on  the  Art  of  Pheidias. 
Cambridge  University  Press. 

Walters,  H.  B.    Greek  Art.  Methuen. 

 The  Art  of  the  Greeks.  Methuen. 

Coinage 

Head,  B.  V.    Historia  Numorum.    A  Manual  of  Greek 

Numismatics.    Clarendon  Press. 
Hill,  G.  F.    Greek  and  Roman  Coins.  Macmillan. 

Bronzes 

Murray,  A.  S.    Greek  Bronzes.  Seeley. 
British  Museum  Catalogue. 

Vases 

British  Museum  Catalogues :  Greek  and  Etruscan, 
White  Athenian  Vases. 

272 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Jewellery 

British  Museum  Catalogue  (J.  H.  Marshall). 

Literature,  etc. 

Adam,  Mrs.  A.  M.    Plato:  Moral  and  Political  Ideals. 

Cambridge  University  Press. 
Burnet,  Professor.    Greek  Philosophy.  Macmillan. 
Gomperz,  T.    The  Greek  Thinkers.  Murray. 
Hicks,  R.  D.    Stoic  and  Epicurean.    Longmans.  1910. 
Jebb,  Sir  Richard.     A  Primer  of  Greek  Literature. 

Macmillan. 

Jevons,  F.  B.  A  History  of  Greek  Literature  from  the 
Earliest  Period  to  the  Death  of  Demosthenes. 
Griffin. 

Livingstone,  R.  W.  The  Greek  Genius  and  its  Meaning 
to  Us.    Clarendon  Press. 

Mahaffv,  J.  P.  The  Silver  Age  of  the  Greek  World. 
Cambridge  University  Press. 

Murray,  G.  G.    History  of  Ancient  Greek  Literature. 

Ridgeway,  W.    The  Origin  of  Greek  Tragedy. 

Sheppard,  J.  T.  Manual  of  Greek  Tragedy.  Cam- 
bridge University  Press. 

Verrall,  A.  W.    Euripides  the  Rationalist. 

Topography,  Social  Life,  etc. 

Baedeker's  Greece.    Fisher  Unwin. 

Becker,  W.  A.    Charicles :    or,   Illustrations  of  the 

Private  Life  of  the  Ancient  Greeks.   Translated  by 

the  Rev.  F.  Metcalfe.  Longmans. 
Frazer,  Sir  J.  G.    Pausanias'  Description  of  Greece. 

6  vols.  Macmillan. 
Freeman,  K.  J.    Schools  of  Hellas.  Macmillan. 
Gardner,  E.  A.    Ancient  Athens.  Macmillan. 
Gardiner,  E.  Norman.    Greek  Athletic  Sports  and 

Festivals.  Macmillan. 
Mahaffy,  J.  P.    Social  Life  in  Greece.  Macmillan. 
Sandys,  Sir  J.  E.    Companion  to  Greek  Studies. 

s  273 


NOTE 


For  the  assistance  of  the  non-classical  reader,  the  proper 
names  and  Greek  words  in  the  following  Index  are 
marked  with  accents  and  marks  of  quantity  (^short, 
"long).  The  accents  (')  are  merely  to  indicate  the 
stressed  syllable  in  the  current  English  pronunciation. 
This  does  not  always  correspond  with  the  true  Greek 
quantity ;  e.g.  English  Solon,  Greek  Solon ;  English 
Epamin6ndas,  Greek  Epaminondas.  There  is  no  reference 
to  the  Greek  accent. 


INDEX 


Academy,  the,  253 

Acanthus,  the,  226 

Accents,  Greek  system  of,  248 

Achaean  League,  the,  237,  245 

Achaeans,  the,  from  the  North,  37  • 

and  Homer,  40-42 
Achaia,  a  Roman  province,  261 
Achilles,  worship  of,  41  ;  the  Shield 

of,  42-47 

Acragas,  Temple  at,  130;  Telamones 

of,  166 
Acrocorinthus,  7 

Acropolis,  the,  7,  95,  96,  102,  138, 
157;  its  architecture,  163-165 

Actors,  174 

Acusilaus,  78 

Admetus,  179 

Adonis,  190,  251 

Adultery  in  Sparta,  90 

JEgz&n  civilisation,  16;  culture,  17 
etseq.;  decay,  31;  art,  32  tt  seq.  j 
dress  of  warriors,  38  ;  worship,  67 

^gean  Sea,  15 

jEgeus,  15,  165 

/Eglna,  commerce,    127  ;   war  with( 

135  ;  pedimental  figures  from,  147 
JEg\s,  the,  95 
;Egosp6tami,  144 
ySLolians,  the,  42 

^Eschylus  at  court  of  Hiero,  113,  129  ; 
and  the  Oriental  host,  136 ;  the 
drama  of,  174;  the  "Persse,"  176; 
the  poet  of  Marathon,  177  ;  number 
of  plays,  182;  in  the  "Frogs"  of 
Aristophanes,  184 


^4Csculapius,  70 

yEtolian  League,  237 

Agamemnon,  tomb  of,  13,  29 ;  wor- 
ship of,  41  ;  in  the  Iliad,  49,  58; 
in  tragedy,  181 

Agariste,  109 

Agithocles,  250 

Agathon,  227,  239 

Ageladas  of  Argos,  147 

Ageiilaus,  King  of  Sparta,  81,  85, 
200,  228,  241 

Agias  (statue),  169,  218 

Agis,  King  of  Sparta,  85,  93 

Agora,  the,  167 

Aidos,  10,  137,  187 

Ajax,  147,  176 

Alaric  the  Goth,  170,  262 

Alcceus,  119,  121 

Alcamcncs,  70,  159 

"  Alcestis  "  of  Euripides,  179 

Alcibiades,  78,  99,  144,  146,  170, 
195,  196 

Alcinous,  48 

Alcmaeonids,  the,  99,  115,  116 
Alcman,  88,  104 

Alexander  the  Great,  career  of,  u  j 
romantic,  180;  Agesilaus  and,  201  ; 
Lysippus  sculptor  to,  218;  and  tho 
temple  at  Ephesus,  221;  portrai- 
ture on  coinage,  226;  Macedon 
under,  237,  241-245;  in  art,  245- 
247 

Alexandria,  243  ;  laid  out  by  Greek 
architects,  247 ;  commerce,  247  ; 
the  greatest  city,  247  j  library  of, 

275 


INDEX 


248 ;  culture,  248 ;  the  Museum, 

248  ;  and  poetry,  249 
Amazons,  battle  of  (sculpture),  222 
Amen-Ra,  251 
Amnion,  243 
Amphictyons,  72 
Amphidamas,  63,  76 
Amphipolis,  240 
Anacreon,  113,  121,  122,  129 
Anaxagoras,  145,  146 
Anaximander,  122 
Ancestor-worship,  30,  34,  50 
Andromache,  55,  59 
Animal  deities,  65 
"  Answerers,"  174 

Antenor's   "  Harmodius  and  Aristo- 

geiton,"  115 
Anthela,  72 

Anthropomorphic  religion,  67 

Antigone,  176,  178 

Antioch,  251 

Antiochus  the  Great,  116 

Antiphon,  229 

Anytus,  232 

Apelles,  213,  223,  242,  245 
Aphaia,  temple  of,  ^Egina,  147 
Aphrodite  in  Homer,  50 ;  worship  of, 
in  Corinth,  108  ;  on  the  Parthenon 
frieze,  155 ;  in  fourth-century  art, 
211;  the  Cnidian  Aphrodite,  213, 
214,  251;  in  Alexandria,  251; 
Aphrodite  of  Melos,  251 
Apollo,  the  coming  of,  65-74 ;  the 
Apollo  Belvedere,  71  ;  Apollo  of 
Delos,  112  ;  on  the  Parthenon  frieze, 
155;  temple  of  Phigaleia,  169; 
statue  at  Delphi,  169  ;  and  Orestes 
in  drama,  181  ;  in  fourth-century 
art,  211;  Apollo  Sauroctonos, 
217;  Palatine  Apollo,  218;  and 
Niobe,  222  ;  "  Apollo  and  Marsyas," 
216 

Apollonius  the  Rhodian,  249 
Ap6xy6menus,  81,  218 
Arcadians,  the,  206,  207 
276 


Arcady,  167 
Archelaus,  239 
Archilochus,  104,  121,  122 
Archimedes,  248 

Architecture,  prehistoric,  24 ;  Doric, 
106  ;  temples,  161  ;  the  Parthenon, 
161-163;  the  Acropolis,  163-165; 
the  Erechtheum,  165-167  ;  other 
Athenian  buildings,  167-168;  other 
Greek  buildings,  1 68-1 71  ;  fourth- 
century,  226;  the  Corinthian  order, 
226  ;  Graeco-Roman,  263 

Arc/tons,  117 

Areian  Hill,  117 

Are6pagus,  Solon  and  the,  100  ;  its 
powers,  117;  its  influence,  133; 
under  democracy,  141  ;  power  taken 
away  by  Pericles,  142  ;  meeting- 
place,  167 

Ares,  77,  154;  the  Ludovisi,  220 

Arethusa,  13T  ;  coins,  225 

Arginusae,  195,  232 

Argives,  the,  109 

Argonautic  expedition  of  Jason,  249 
Argos,  28,  109,  245 
Ariadne,  15 
Arlon,  122,  173 

Aristarchus,  the  Father  of  Criticism,  248 

Aristeides,  135,  140,  141 

Arlstion,  stele  of,  114 

Aristocracies,  86,  119,  145,  256 

Aristogeiton,  115,  180 

Aristophanes  and  "  the  Harmodius," 
116;  champions  the  hoplites,  140; 
and  Cleon,  144 ;  and  liberty  of 
speech,  145;  and  Pheidias,  157; 
humour  of,  183 

Aristotle  on  Spartan  government,  86 ; 
on  tragedy,  181  ;  and  state  pay- 
ment, 197;  his  greatness  and  birth, 

253  ;  disciple  of  Plato,  253  ;  teacher 
of  Alexander,    253  ;   his  writings, 

254  :  "  the  Politics,"  255 ;  his 
influence,  261 

Arnold's,  Matthew,  "  Thyrsis,"  250 


INDEX 


Art,  Greek,  its  perfection,  10,  103 ; 
qualities,  56 ;  the  cults  and,  103 ; 
simplicity,  153,  162  ;  subordination 
of  the  artist,  158;  in  the  fourth 
century,  208 ;  continuance  and  de- 
cadence, 262-263 ;  Graeco-Roman, 
265  ;  perishes  from  vulgarity,  266 

Artaphernes,  134 

Artaxerxes,  201,  204 

Artemis,  202,  222  ;  of  Brauron,  99, 
165;  temple  of,  at  Ephesus,  221; 
"  Artemis  and  Apollo,"  by  Praxi- 
teles, 216 

Artemisia,  wife  of  Mausollus,  221 

Ascra,  62 

Ashtaroth,  108 

Asia,  244 

Aspasia,  146 

Athena,  statue  of,  at  Troy,  54  ;  Pallas 
Athena,  51,  94;  birth  and  worship, 

94  ;  Northern  origin,  95  ;  an  Achaean 
goddess,  95,  102;  hoplite  goddess, 

95  ;  and  the  name  of  Athens,  95  ; 
gift  of  olive-tree,  97  ;  origin  of 
Athena,  99  ;  and  Erechtheus,  102  ; 
shrine  and  image,  102,  165,  166; 
Athena  Parthenos,  148,  156;  in 
Parthenon  sculptures,  151,  152, 
154;  statues  of,  157;  the  Mourning 
Athena,  160,  192;  Athena  Pro- 
machos,  102,  165  ;  Athena  the 
Crafts-woman,  165  ;  Athena  type  of 
coins,  225;  Athena  and  Marsyas, 
165 

Athenian  drama,  172 

Athenian  mysteries,  98 

Athens  and  the  sea,  6 ;  and  silver 
mines,  6 ;  the  state,  9  ;  pays  tribute 
to  Minos,  16;  occupations  of  the 
Athenians,  40;  Pallas  Athena  and, 
95  ;  Theseus  and,  97  ;  agricultural, 
97,  98  ;  Eupatridae,  97  ;  democracy, 
97  ;  religious  customs,  98 ;  law- 
giving, 99;  Homer  and,  102;  and 
the  tyrants,  104,  115;  Peisistratus 


and,  no;  police,  in;  state  cults, 
III  J  freedom  of,  115;  government, 
116;  the  rise  of,  132;  attacks  by 
Medes  and  Persians,  134-140;  and 
a  navy,  135;  Athenian  civilisation, 
140;  a  democratic  city-state,  140; 
Athenian  empire,  141  ;  Pericles  and 
liberty,   142 ;  conflict  with  Sparta, 
143;     Peloponnesian    War,  143; 
capitulates,  144;  freedom  in,  145; 
Pericles'  ideal,  146;  Pericles'  Athens, 
150;  the   Long  Walls,  163,  195, 
198;  buildings  of,  167;  aristocracy, 
172;  downfall  and  restoration,  194; 
popular    government,     195,     197  ; 
oligarchy,  196;  the  Thirty  Tyrants, 
197;  finance,  198;   fourth  century 
Athens,  209  ;  coinage,  225 ;  legal 
system,  229;  rebellion  against  aliens, 
238  ;  and  Macedon,  240  ;  oppres- 
sions, 244  ;  enslaved  by  Demetrius, 
252  ;  her  philosophers,   152  ;  and 
Aristotle,  253;  "Polity  of  Athens," 
255  ;  intellectual  life  of  the  third 
century,  258  ;  self-government  under 
the  Romans,  261  ;  schools  of  philo- 
sophy, 261  ;  Frankish  dukes,  262. 
Ste  also  Attica. 
Athens  and  Sparta,  40,  83,  94,  195, 
206,  231 

Athletics,  Greek,  antiquity  of,  74,  76  ; 
religious  significance,  74,  75,  76; 
a  modernised  programme  of  sports, 
74;  Pythian  Games,  76;  Olympian 
Games,  76,  78 ;  nature  of  the  con- 
tests, 77;  sacrifice  and  ritual,  77; 
the  competitors,  77  ;  the  judges, 
77;  the  prize  and  honours,  78; 
discreditable  practices,  78  ;  anec- 
dotes of  Pausanias,  78 ;  Euripides' 
tirade  against,  79 ;  inspires  sculp, 
ture,  80  ;  nudity,  81 

Atreus,  181 

Attalidi,  251 

Attalus,  238 

277 


INDEX 


Attica  and  Northern  invasion,  96  ;  a 
city-state,  97,  m  ;  the  older  wor- 
ship of,  98 

Attica,  plain  of,  9 

Augustus  and  Alexander  the  Great, 

242 
Aule,  59 
Aulis,  63 

Autocracy,  civilisation  and,  32 

Babylon,  241 
Bacchiads,  the,  104 
Bacchylides,  113,  129 
Bacon,  261 
"  Basileis,"  104 
Basileus,  47 

Bassae,  temple  at,  169,  226 
Beauty,  Hellenism  and,  4 
Bentley,  Richard,  129 
Bias  of  Prieiie,  101,  122 
Bion,  250 

Black  Sea,  the,  no 
Bceotia,  9,  142 
Bo€thos,  220 

Boston  Museum,  slabs  in,  125 

Boy  Victor  (statue),  160 

Boy  with  thorn  in  foot  (statue),  160 

Branchldae  figures,  54 

Brasidas,  93,  229 

Breathings  and  accents,  Greek,  248 
British  Museum,  Elgin  Marbles,  151, 

164,  166;  Strangford  Shield,  156; 
frieze  from  Phigaleia,  170;  statue 
of  Demeter,  &c,  219;  head  of 
Hypnos,  220;  Mausolus,  221; 
Tanagra  figures,  227;  Head  of 
Alexander,  246;  the  Portland  Vase, 

263 

Bronze  Age,  the,  16,  19,  36 
Bronzes,  220 

Brunn  on  the  Parthenon  figures,  151 

Bucchero  nero,  18 

Bucephalus,  242,  245 

Bull,  the  Farnese  (sculpture),  265 

Bull-baiting,  Cnossian,  25 

278 


Burial  of  the  dead,  190 

Burke,  Edmund,  230 

Burrows,  Prof.,  on  Minoan  drains,  26 ; 

date  of  the  fall  of  Minoan  empire, 

38 

Butler,  Samuel,  on  Homer,  58 
Byron,  Lord,  262  ;  on  Anacreon,  113 

Calamis,  159 
Callimachus,  166,  226,  249 
Callinus,  122 

Calydonian  boar-hunt,  218 

Cameo-engraving,  263 

Candahar,  243 

Capitoline  Gallery,  214 

Carcinus,  187 

Caria,  221,  237 

Carneades,  259 

Carrara  marble,  147 

Carrey's  Parthenon  drawings,  150 

Carthage,  129 

Carthaginian  invaders  of  Sicily,  250 

Caryatids,  131,  166 

Cassandra,  58 

Cat,  the,  193 

Catabasis,  the,  202 

Cato,  259 

Cave  of  Pan,  168 

Caves  as  dwellings,  18 

Cecropia,  95 

Cecrops,  96,  166 

Cephis6dotus,  213 

Cerameikos  cemetery,  192 

"  Cerberus,  sop  to,"  189 

Chaeroneia,  238,  241 

Chalcidian  peninsula,  240 

Chalcis,  63 

Chariot-races,  78 

Charioteer,  the  long-robed  (statue),  81, 

169 
Charon,  189 

Charondas  of  Catane,  73,  128 
Cheirlsophos,  201 
Child-birth,  goddess  of,  98 
Children,  Spartan,  91 


INDEX 


Chios,  142 

Chorus,  the,  173,  182 

Christianity  and  Stoicism,  257,  261 

Chronology,  system  of,  249 

Chryseis,  58 

Cicero,  128,  230 

Cinadon,  conspiracy  of,  200 

Cithara,  68,  224 

City-state,  the,  7,  10,  206,  238;  and 
patriotism,  145 ;  the  ideal,  255, 
257 

Civilisation,  prehistoric,  18 
Classicism,  "Greek"  and,  2 
Clearchus,  201 

Cleisthenes,  99,  109,  116,  117,  133 
Cle6mbrotus,  85,  205 
Cle6menes,  85 
Cleomenes  III.,  239 
Cleon,  144,  160,  183,  187 
Cle6nymus,  186 
Clytaemnestra,  58,  181 
Cnldos,  213 

Cnossos,  16,  20  et  seq. ;  destruction  of, 
31  ;  athletics  of,  74 

Cockerell,  C.  R.,  147 

Coins,  Sparta  and,  89;  Ionian,  123; 
of  Syracuse,  129,  131,  225;  of  Elis, 
148;  art  of  coins,  225;  Athena 
type,  225  ;  gold,  225  ;  Corinthian, 
and  others,  225,  226;  with  portraits 
of  Alexander,  247 

Comedy,  173,  183-186 

Commerce,  Hermes  the  god  of,  68 

Common  sense  of  the  Greeks,  180 

Communism,  Platonic,  255 

Companions  of  the  King,  the  (Mace- 
don),  240 

Conon,  198,  226 

Constantinople  Museum,  Sidon  sar- 
cophagus, 246 

Constitution,  free,  256;  Mixed,  257; 
Mixed,  of  Sparta,  and  political 
science,  86 

Constitutional  history,  contradictions 
in,  228 


Corcyra  (Corfu),  105,  108,  137 

Corinth  and  commerce,  105,  1273 
art,  105;  and  Egypt,  106;  under 
the  Cypselid  tyrants,  108  ;  worship  of 
Aphrodite,  108;  and  the  Bacchiads, 
104 ;  and  the  Leagues,  245 ;  de- 
stroyed by  the  Romans,  261,  263 

Corinth,  Isthmus  of,  137 

Corinthian  Gulf,  the,  7 

Corinthian  War,  the,  203 

Cory,  Wm.  Johnson,  249 

Cos,  213 

Council  of  Ten,  Spartan,  200 
Courtesans  of  Corinth,  108 
Crabbe  (Carcinus),  187 
Cremation,  189 
Creon,  178 
Cresilas,  160 

Crete,  14  et  seq.;  Stone  Age  in,  18; 

palaces,  24 
Cripple,  46 
Critias,  197,  232 
Criticism,  Aristotle  and,  254 
Crito,  233 

Crcesus,  King  of  Lydia,  71,  123 

Cronos,  66 

Croton,  127 

Crown  of  wild  olive,  78 

Crusaders,  Latin,  262 

Cunaxa,  201 

Cupbearer  frieze,  the,  23,  25,  32 
Curses,  the,  66 
Cybcl£,  worship  of,  251 
Cyclopes,  36 
Cylon,  99,  104,  1 10 
Cym£,  62 
Cynics,  the,  258 
Cyprus,  17,  142,  237 
Cypselid  tyrants,  108 
Cypielus,  tyrant  of  Corinth,  104,  105, 
109 

Cyrus,  72,  123,  201 
Cythera,  figure  found  at,  220 

Da:dalus,  15,  166 

279 


"  Daimonion,"  232 
Damagetus,  78 
Damon  the  musician,  146 
Dancing-floors,  173 
Daphnis,  250 
Dardanelles,  the,  136 
Darius,  72,  134,  245 
Datis,  134 

Death,  Greek  ideas  of,  190  ;  sculpture 

representing,  126,  220;  according 

to  the  Epicureans,  258 
Deianira,  176 
Deities,  names  for,  66 
Delos,  shrine  of  Apollo,  68 ;  removal 

of  dead  from,  112;  confederacy  of, 

141 

Delphi,  shrine  of  Apollo,  68,  71  ; 
spoils  of  war,   168;   treasures  of, 

238 

Delphic  Amphictyony,  72 

Delphic  Oracle  and  priests,  71-73; 
and  art,  103;  and  the  Persian 
invasion,  137;  Lysander  and,  200 

Demaratus,  137 

De  meter,  or  Mother  Earth,  an  early 
deity,  66 ;  shrine  of,  at  Anthela, 
72;  Eleusinian  mysteries,  98,  190; 
Persephone  and,  124;  worship  of, 
170;  Demeter  of  Cnidos  (statue), 
219 

Demetrius,  the  Besieger  of  Cities,  252 
Democracy,  Spartan,  84  ;  Athenian,  98, 

100,    118,    141,    172,    195,  197; 

and  the  Free  Constitution,  256 
Dem6critus,  258 

Demosthenes,  194,  229,  230,  240 
"  Diadumenus,"  81,  159 
Diagoras,  78 

Diana  of  the   Ephesians,  34,  118; 

temple  of,  219 
Diip61ia,  98 
Diodorus,  128 
Diogeries,  258 

Dionysius   I.   and    II.,    tyrants  of 

Syracuse,  250,  255;  coins,  225 
280 


INDEX 

Dionysus  on  the  Parthenon  frieze, 
154;  in  the  "Frogs"  of  Aristo- 
phanes, 184  ;  the  drama  and  festivals 
of,    112,    173,    184;    theatre  of, 

168 

Dipylon  Gate,  168 
Dipylon  Style,  the,  56 
"  Disc6bolus,"  80,  159 
Dithyramb,  the,  106,  113,  173 
Dogs  on  tombstones,  193 
Doma,  59 

Domestic  life  in  Homer,  58 
Dorian  Mode  in  music,  223 
Dorians,   the,   origin   of,    38 ;  dress 
of  warriors,  38 ;   religious  beliefs, 
38 ;  ignored  by  Homer,  42 ;  com- 
munism, 88 ;  Apollo,  god  of  the, 
69  ;  Dorian  greatness,  70 
Doric  architecture,  106,  161,  171 
Dorpfeld,  Dr.,  166 
"  Doryphorus,"  81,  159 
Douris,  225 
Dracon,  99 

Drainage  work,  Cnossian,  26 
Drama,  Athenian,  112;  the  Greek, 
172-187;  as  instrument  of  public 
education,  172;  "  Middle  Comedy," 
227  ;  the  New  Comedy  of  manners, 
228,  253;  the  mime,  250;  "con- 
tamination," 253 

Earth,  circumference  of  the,  248 
East  and  West,  conflict  between,  11 
Ecclesia,  116 

Education,  Spartan,  89 ;  Platonic,  255 
Egypt,    Greek   learning   from,  119; 
Athens   and   the  affairs  of,  142 ; 
under  the  Ptolemies,  244.    See  also 
Alexandria 
Egyptian  influence  in  Crete,  20,  33 
Egyptologists  and  dates,  17 
Eilithuia,  151 

Eleatic  school  of  philosophy,  128 
Eleusinian  mysteries,  34,  98,  170 
Eleusinian  relief,  the  (sculpture),  160 


INDEX 


Eleusis,  the   Great  Temple  of  the 

Mysteries,  170 
Eleutheria,  94 

Elgin,    Lord,    and    the  Parthenon 

marbles,  151 
Elis,  citizens  of,  and  Olympian  Games, 

77  ;  coins  of,  148 
Empire  and  democracy,  11 
Empires,  Greek,  1 1 

Epaminondas  the  Theban,  180,  204- 
208,  240 

Ephesus,  wealth,  &c,  112,  118; 
column  from,  123;  temple  of 
Artemis,  218,  221  ;  new  temple  at, 
226 

Ephorate,  Spartan,  85 
Ephorus,  228 
EpictStus,  257 
Epicureanism,  258 
Epicurus,  257,  258 
Epidaurus,  104 

Epimenides  the  Cretan,  15,  101 
Epinlkia,  the,  76 
Epirus,  245 
Eratosthenes,  248 
Erechtheum,  the,  102,  165-167 
Erechthciis,  95,  96,  102,  110,  112 
Eretria,  133 

Eros,  155,  an;  Eros  of  Thespise, 
213,  215;  Eros  of  Centocelle,  215 

Ethics,  235  ;  of  Aristotle,  254  ; 
politics  a  branch  of,  256 

Etruscan  art,  1 7 

Etruscans,  127 

Eucenetus,  225 

Eubaea,  63,  196 

Eubouleus,  190 

Eucleides,  197 

Euclid,  248 

Eugenics,  Spartan,  89 

Euhemerism,  122 

Eumaeus,  47 

Eunomia,  73,  94 

Eupatridse,  97 

Euploia,  213 


Euripides,  against  athletes,  79;  the 
chorus  in,  174;  the  sceptic  and 
prophet  of  the  new  age,  177;  the 
"Alcestis,"  179;  number  of  his 
worki,  182;  in  the  "Frogs"  of 
Aristophanes,  184,  186;  and  social 
problems,  210 ;  influence  on  art, 
211  ;  Archelaus  and,  239 

European  civilisation  and  modern 
discoveries,  14;  early  civilisation, 
247 

Eurotas,  Vale  of,  204 
Eurymedon,  142 
Euxine,  the,  202 
Evagoras,  238 

Evans,  Sir  Arthur,  discoveries  of,  17, 
24,  25,  30 

Fashions  (dress),  Cnossian,  25 

Fates,  the,  66,  123,  189 

Federal  systems,  238 

Flagellation,  Spartan,  92 

Fortresses  of  Tiryns,  &c,  28 

Four  Hundred,  government  of  the,  196 

Francois  Vase,  43,  57 

Frere's,     Hookhum,     translation  of 

Aristophanes,  quoted,  184 
Frieze  of  the  Parthenon,  1 53 
Funeral  customs,  188 
Furies,  the,  181 
Furtwangler,  Adolf,  151,  158 

Gaia  (Earth),  152 
Games,  the — see  Athletics 
Gardner,   Prof.   Ernest,  on  the  Par- 
thenon sculptures,  150,  154 
Gauls,  the,  238 

Gelo  of  Syracuse,  130,  131,  137,  225 
Gem  engraving,  263 
Gems,  225 

Genius,  the  rise  of,  132;  Greek  im- 
personal genius,  158 
Geometric  style  in  art,  56 
Ger6ntes,  Spartan,  84 
GSrousia,  or  Senate,  84 

28l 


INDEX 


Ghost-worship,  66 
Glaucus,  79 

God,  Socrates  and,  232 
Gods  in  Homer,  50 
Gorgias  of  Leontini,  230 
Gorgon,  the,  57 
Goths,  the,  262 

Government  of  the  Greek  States,  83, 
116;  popular  government  in  Athens, 
195;  Platonic  government,  255 

Graeco-Roman  art,  265 

"Greece,"  and  "Greek,"  ideas  con- 
veyed by,  1 

Greece,  the  country,  5 ;  and  the  sea, 
5  ;  climate,  7  ;  scenery,  9 ;  the  Dark 
Ages,  36  ;  the  earlier  civilisation,  74  ; 
government,  116;  invaders  of,  262; 
its  decline,  263 

Greece,  modern,  261 ;  War  of  Inde- 
pendence, 262  ;  wars  with  Turkey, 
262 

Greek  character,  the,  10 
Greek  culture,  its  continuing  influence, 
260 

Greek  history,  new  discoveries  and,  1 2 
Greek  poetry,  53 

Greek  states,  government  of  the,  83 
Greek  world,  the,  under  Alexander,  244 
Greeks  inherently  aristocratic,   171  ; 

racial  character  of  modern  Greeks,  8 
Griffin,  the,  58 
"  Grin,  the  archaic,"  70 
Grundy,  Dr.  G.  B.,  138 
Gylippus,  93 

Hades,  123,  124,  190,  233 
Hadrian,  Emperor,  111,  261 
Hsemon,  178 

Halicarnassus,  coin,  123;  mausoleum 

at,  221 
Happiness,  258 

Harmodius  and  Aristogeiton,  legend  of, 
115,  180;  statue  by  Antenor,  115; 
"  the  Harmodius,"  116  ;  group  from 
y£gina,  147 

282 


Harold  Hardrada,  262 

Harp,  the,  39;  and  Spartans,  224 

Harpies,  the,  66,  189 

Harpy  tomb,  123 

Heavenly  twins,  the,  245 

Hecatseus  of  Miletus,  122 

Hegeso,  tomb  of,  192 

Helen  of  Troy,  55,  58 

Helicon,  Mount,  9 ;  Muses  of,  63 

Heliodorus,  180,  262 

Helios,  226 

Hellas,  definition  of,  260 
Hellenic  people,  the  fusion  of  races, 
39 

Hellenism,  the  study  of,  4 ;  contest 
between  Hellenism  and  barbarism, 
153  ;  Alexander  the  Great  and,  243  ; 
and  Asiatic  elements,  251 ;  the 
Roman  and,  260  ;  and  Europe,  260 

HeUots,  87 

Hephaestus,  shield  of,  43 ;  works  of, 
54 ;  and  Athena,  94 ;  in  the  Par- 
thenon frieze,  151,  155;  the  temple 
of,  167 

Hera,  23,  50,  130,  154;  temple  of, 

106,  108,  215 
Heracleitus  of  Ephesus,  122 
Heracles,  [85  ;  and  his  labours,  111, 

153;  and  Hylas,  180;  the  Farnese, 

265 

"  Heracles,  the  sons  of,"  73 

Herculaneum,  bronzes,  221  ;  Greek 
art  at,  263 

Hercules — see  Heracles 

Hermes,  tearly  origin,  66,  67 ;  popu- 
larity of,  68 ;  in  art,  70 ;  and  the 
Olympian  Games,  76 ;  in  the  Par- 
thenon frieze,  154;  on  sepulchral 
slab,  192  ;  replaces  Apollo  in  art, 
211;  of  Praxiteles,  169,  211,  215 

Hero-worship,  38;  in  Homer,  51 

Herddotus,  228;  on  Homer  and 
Hesiod,  50 ;  and  the  Delphic  oracle, 
73;  declaimed  at  the  Olympic 
Games,  76;  and  the  Persians,  136 


INDEX 


Heroic  age,  the,  36,  38 ;  cult  and  art, 
103 

Her6ndas  of  Cos,  250 
Hersephoria,  98 

Hesiod  and  the  five  ages  of  the  world, 
36 ;  and  the  gods,  50 ;  contem- 
porary with  Homer,  52  ;  the  world 
of,  61-64;  and  mythology,  66;  and 
poetic  contest,  75,  88;  popularity 
of,  104 

"  Heureka  !  "  248 

Hiero,  tyrant  of  Syracuse,  113,  129,  225 
Hieron,  225 

Hlmera,  battle  of,  130,  131 
Hindu  Khush,  the,  243 
Hipparchus,  113,  115 
Hippias,  115,  116,  134,  235 
Hippocleides,  109 
Hissarlik,  13 
Historians,  228 

Homer  and  primitive  European  civili- 
sation, 12,  13,  14;  and  the  Achceans, 
40;  composition  of  the  epics,  41: 
as  history,  42  ;  the  Shield  of  Achilles, 
42-47  ;  kings  and  gods  in,  47-53 ; 
Homeric  religion,  51  ;  when  written, 
52  ;  and  the  art  of  the  period,  53  ; 
women  in,  58;  houses  and  domestic 
life  in,  59 ;  and  mythology,  66 ; 
popularity  of,  103  ;  the  recitation  of, 
112;  theology  of,  232;  Ionia  and, 
119;  scholars  of  Alexandria  and, 
248;  influence  of,  261 

"Homeric"  hymns,  68 

Homgridae,  the,  41 

Hoplite,  the  Athenian,  135 

Horace,  121,  260 

Horse,  the,  in  Greek  art,  57 

Horse-races,  129 

Houses  in  Homer,  59 

"  Hungry  Greekling,"  265 

Hygiaea,  70 

Hylas,  180 

Hymettus,  Mount,  96 
Hvpnos  (Sleep),  220 


Ibycus  of  Rhegium,  129 

Ictinus,  the  architect,  147  ;  and  the- 

temple-builders,  161-171 
"  Ilissus,"  152 

Immortality,  doctrine  of,  128;  im- 
mortality of  the  soul,  190;  Platonic 
theory  of,  234 

India,  Alexander  the  Great's  invasion 
of,  243 

Indo-Europeans,  /Egean,  32 

Ionia,  1 1 8- 1 26;  cities,  112;  poets,  119; 
philosophers,  122;  plastic  art,  123, 
1 26  ;  King  Crcesus,  1 23  ;  Sparta  and 
Ionian  cities,  199,  204 

Ionians,  the,  40,  68,  118 

Ionic  states,  the,  1 1 2 

Iphicrates,  204 

Iris,  51,  152 

Iron  Age,  the,  31,  37 

Is.xire,  219 

Isles  of  the  Blessed,  37,  39,  189, 
190 

Isocrates,  230,  241,  260 
Issus,  245,  246 

Italy,  South,  Greek  cities  of,  263 

Jason,  2 1 1,  249 
" Javan,"  1 18 
"Jove  of  Otricoli,"  148 
Judges  of  the  games,  77 
Julian  the  Apostate,  262 
Julius  Cxsar  and  Alexander  the  Great, 
242 

Justice,  Plato's  "The  Republic"  and, 
254 

Justinian,  262 
Juvenal,  265 

"  Kamakks  "  ware,  20 
Karuai,  166 
Keftiu,  20 

Kimon,  140,  141,  157 

Kings,  the,  of  Homer,  47  ;  of  Hesiod, 

62  ;  Spaitan  kings,  84 
Kingsley's,  Charles,  "  Heroes,"  15 

283 


INDEX 


Kor£,  98.    See  also  Persephone 
Koroplastes,  227 
Kylix,  the,  24 
Kypselus,  Chest  of,  43 

Labdacus,  181 
Labyrinth  legend,  the,  25 
Lacedsemon,  206 
Lacedaemonians,  the,  82 
Laconia,  200 
"  Laconic,"  92 
Lady  of  GnTdos,  251 
Lais,  109 

Lang,  Andrew,  on  Theocritus,  250 

"  Laocoon,"  the,  265 

Laurium  silver-mines,  in,  135 

Law,  Natural,  258 

Law-givers,  128;  of  Athens,  99 

Laws  of  Solon,  97,  100 

Lawson's,  J.  C,  "  Modern  Greek  Folk- 
lore," 170 

Legal  system  of  Athens,  229;  Stoicism 
and  the  legal  systems  of  Europe, 
258 

Lemnian  Athena,  157 

"  Lenormant"  statuette,  148 

Le6nidas,  King,   93,   138 ;  and  the 

Spartans,  113 
Lesbos,  118,  142 
Lessing,  265 
Leto,  222 

Leucas,  canal  through,  109 
Leuctra,   battle  of,   205,   207,  208, 
239 

Levant,  the,  commerce  and  sea-power 

of,  247 
Liberty  in  Athens,  145 
Library  of  Alexandria,  248 
Lighthouse,  great  (Pharos),  247 
Literature,  the  Ptolemies  and,  248 ; 
of  the  fourth  century,  227;  Greek 
literature,  262 
"  Liturgies,"  174 
Lizard-slayer,  the,  212 
Logic,  Aristotle  and,  254 
284 


Louvre,  the,  215;  Venus  of  MLlo, 
252  ;  Victory  of  Samothrace,  252 

Love,  Plato  on,  234 ;  love  in  Greek 
drama,  178 ;  male,  91 

Lucian,  214,  263 

Luck,  Hermes  the  god  of,  68 

Lucretius,  258 

Ludovisi  Throne,   reliefs   from  the, 

124,  160 
Lyceum,  the,  253 
Lycia,  Nereid  Monument,  226 
Lycurgean  constitution,  200 
Lycurgus,  73,  99,  228 
Lydian  Mode,  the,  in  music,  224 
Lydians,  coinage  invented  by,  123 
Lyre,  the,  68 

Lysander,  94,  144,  197,  199 
Lysias,  229 

Lysicrates,  monument  of,  182,  226 
Lysimachus,  246 

Lysippus  of  Sicyon,  169,  218,  242, 
245,  246 

Macedon,  237  ;  rise  of,  239 

Macedonia,  the  kingdom  of,  244,  252 ; 
a  Roman  province,  261  ;  the  Mace- 
donian kings,  240 ;  anti-Mace- 
donian party,  240 

Malaria  in  modern  Greece,  8 

Mantinaea,  93,  204,  206,  208,  216 

Marathon,  134,  139 

"  Marble  Faun,"  the,  214 

Marbles,  Greek,  149 

Marcus  Aurelius,  257 

Mardonius,  139 

Marriage  customs,  Spartan,  90 

Marshlands  and  malaria,  9 

"  Marsyas,"  by  Myron,  159 

Masks  in  drama,  175 

Mausollus  and  his  mausoleum,  221 

Medea,  21  x 

Medes  and  Persians,  133 
Mediterranean  peninsulas,  247 
Medusa  the  Gorgon,  95  ;  the  "  Ronda- 
nini"  Medusa,  220 


Megacles,  99,  109 
Mtigara,  104,  110,  142 

Megaron,  59 
Meidias,  230 
Melanthius,  186 

Meleager,   quoted,    249  ;    statue  of 

Meleager,  218 
Melitus,  232 

Menander,  180,  228,  253,  261 
Menestheus,  96,  97 
"  Messengers"  in  Greek  tragedy,  181 
Messenia,  206 

Messenians  of  Naupactus,  160 
Metayer  system,  97 
Metempsychosis,  128 
Metopes,  130;  of  the  Parthenon,  153 
Miletus,    104,    112,    118,    123,  127, 

176 
Milo,  127 

Miltiades,  in,  134,  228 
Milton,  John,  261  ;  "  Lycidas,"  250 
Mime,  the,  250 

Minoan  empire,  fall  of,  38  ;  Minoan 

discoveries,  16 
Minos,  15,  16;  laws  of,  33 
Minotaur,  the,  15 
Mitylene,  no,  118,  144,  195 
Mnesicles,  164,  171 
Monarchy,  256 
Money,  coined,  89 
More,  Sir  Thomas,  261 
Morosini,  General,  151 
Moschus,  250 
Mourning,  190 
Mummy-cases,  223 
Munich  Glyptothek,  147,  214 
Murray,  Prof.  Gilbert,  on  Homer,  51 
Musseus,  114 
Museum,  the,  248 
Music,  Greek,  223 

Mycenae,  13;  Bronze  Age,  23;  palace 
of,  24;  fortress  of,  28,  29;  tombs, 
29;  treasures  of,  30  ;  art,  31 
Mycenaean  discoveries,  16  ;  art,  31 
Myres,  Mr.,  on  Cnossian  millinery,  26 


INDEX 

Myron  (sculptor),  80,  159,  217 
"  Myrtle  Bough,  The,"  114 
Mythology,  66,  98 

Naples  Museum,  116,  265 
Napoleon  and  Alexander  the  Great, 
242 

Narrative  in  Greek  drama,  180 
Natural  science,  Aristotle  and,  254 
Naturalistic  worship,  34 
Nature  in  primitive  Cretan  art,  22 
Nature-study,  128 
Nature-worship,  39,  99 
Naupactus,  142 
Naval  empires,  1 5 
Navy,  Athenian,  135 
Neighbours,  or  Perioikoi,  87 
Neolithic  man,  18 
Neoptolemus,  176 
Nereid  Monument,  226 
Nero,  261 
Nestor,  54 

Newton,  Sir  Charles,  221 
Nicetas,  157 

Nicomedes,  King,  of  Bithynia,  213 
Nike,  245 
Nikias,  140,  229 
Niobe,  222 
Niobids,  the,  222 
Normans,  the,  262 

Northern    invasion    of   Greece,  35 

tt  seq. 
Novel,  the  Greek,  262 
Nudity,    the    Greeks    ami,    81  ;  in 
sculpture,  2 1 1 

Obscenity,  184 
Odeion,  168 

Odysseus,  47,  54,  59  ;  palace  of,  60 
CEdipus,  36,  178 
Qinomaus,  76 

Oligarchy,  84,  195,  199,  256 
Olympia,   sculptures    at,    157,  159, 
160;  temple   of  Zeus,    iO<i;  the 
Altis,  169 

285 


INDEX 


Olympian  cult  and  art,  103  ;  deities, 
9,  66 

Olympic  Games,  76 ;  nature  of  the 
contests,  77;  sacrifice  and  ritual, 

77  ;  the  competitors,  77  ;  the 
judges,  77  ;  the  prize  and  honours, 
78 ;   trickery,    78 ;   their  duration, 

78  ;  account  of  Pausanias,  78  ;  dress 
of  the  athletes,  82  ;  Nero  in  the, 
261 

Omar,  the  Caliph,  262 
Omphalos,  71 
Onomacritus,  113 
Opuntius,  186 

Oracle,  the  Delphic — see  Delphic 

Oratory,  228-231 

Orchomenos,  Apollo  of,  69 

Orestes,  181,  182 

Orpheus,  53;  and  Eurydice,  192 

Ortygia,  131 

Ostracism,  117 

Ostrakon  of  Themistocles,  141 
Owl,  Athena's,  99 
Ox-murder,  98 

P^eonius,  159,  160;  Victory  by,  252 

Paesto,  128 

Painting,  Greek,  223 

Pallas  Athena — see  Athena 

Pan,  99  ;  Cave  of,  168 

Pan-pipes,  224 

Panainos,  149,  167 

Panathenaea,  Greater,  1 1 1 

Panathenaic  amphorae,  224 ;  festival, 

154,  163 
Pandion,  96 
Pandora,  62 
Pandrosos,  166 

Panegyric  oration  of  Isocrates,  230 
Pangaeus,  Mount,  gold-mines  of,  240 
Panhellenic    orations,    230 ;  union, 
24T 

Pantarkes,  157 
Panticapaeum,  225 
Parian  marble,  149 
286 


Paris,  palace  of,  59 
Parmenio,  246 
Parnassus,  69 
Parrhasios,  223 
Parrhesia,  94 

Parry,  Sir  Hubert,  and  Greek  music, 
223 

Parthenon,  the,  supersedes  the  Acro- 
polis, 102  ;  architecture,  107,  161- 
163;  sculptures,  148,  150;  of  the 
pediments,  150,  151  ;  the  metopes, 
153;  the  frieze,  112,  153;  Athena 
Parthenos,  156;  destructions,  150, 

Parthenos  of  the  Parthenon,  148 
Party  system,  117 
Pastoral  poetry,  249 
Patroclldes,  186 
Patroclus,  74,  147 

Paul,  St.,  and  Stoicism,  257;  and  the 

teaching  of  Socrates,  234 
Pausanias,  King  of  Sparta,  85,  94, 

141 

Pausanias,  the  traveller,  on  the  Chest 
of  Kypselus,  43 ;  and  Greek  wor- 
ship, 67 ;  and  Olympia,  78 ;  and 
the  Parthenon,  150,  160;  and  the 
Hermes  of  Praxiteles,  215  j  his 
works,  263 

Pediments  of  the  Parthenon,  150 

Pegasus  coins,  225 

Peiraeus,  the,  as  part  of  Athens,  140; 
the  planning,  171  ;  Spartan  attack, 
205;  new  walls,  226;  a  centre  of 
commerce,  252 

Peirithoiis,  180 

Peisistratus,  Homer  edited  during  his 
tyranny,  42  ;  democracy  before,  98 ; 
and  Solon's  laws,  101 ;  the  tyranny 
of,  104;  services  to  Athens,  noj 
and  the  foundations  of  Athenian 
civilisation,  133;  temple  of  Athena 
built  by,  165  ;  temple  of  Olympian 
Zeus  begun  by,  168 

Pelasgians,  the,  96,  163 


INDEX 


Pelasgic  Wall,  96 

Pel6pidas,  205,  207 

Peloponnese,  the,  137,  206 

Peloponnesian  War,  143,  194,  199, 
208 

Pelops,  76 

Pene1ope\  47.  55.  5^ 

Penrose,  F.  G.,  on  the  Parthenon,  161 

Pentelic  marble,  147 

Pergamum,  237;  altar  of  Zeus,  251 

Periander,  106,  108,  109 

Pericles,  99,  110;  and  the  constitution 
of  Athens,  118,  142-144;  attacks 
on,  145,  156;  oration  on  Athenian 
soldiers,  146;  bust  of,  160;  the 
Odeion,  168;  the  Acropolis,  192 

Peripatetic  school  of  philosophy,  253 

Persephone,  Eleusinian  mysteries  in 
honour  of,  98 ;  on  Harpy  Tomb 
(Queen  of  the  Dead),  123;  on 
Ludovisi  reliefs,  123;  worship  of, 
170;  Hades  the  home  of,  190; 
on  an  archaic  relief,  192 

Perseus,  130 

Persian  Empire  and  Alexander  the 
Great,  242,  243 

Persian  Gulf,  the,  243 

Persian  wars,  the,  124,  133-139,  142, 
J53>  2°3>  Greek  mercenaries  in 
the  Persian  army,  201  ;  Isocrates 
and  the  Persians,  230 ;  Alexander 
and  Persian  troops,  241 

Persis,  62 

Ph;eacia,  54 

"  Phsedo,"  the,  of  Plato,  233 
Phalanx,  the,  241 
Phalaris  of  Acragas,  105 
Phanes,  coin  of,  123 
Pharisaism,  257 
Pharnabazus,  199 

Pheidias,  8r,  102,  145,  146-158,  213 
Phidolas,  79 

Phigaleia,  temple  of,  169 

Philip  of  Macedon,  208,  237-241 

Philip  II.,  239 


Philippides,  135 

Philosophers,  Ionian,  122 

Philosophy  of  Pythagoras,  127  ;  Eleatic 

school    of,    1 28 ;    of   the  fourth 

century,  231-236;  Aristotle,  253; 

Stoicism,    257;    Epicurean,  257; 

the  Cynics,  258  ;  and  Julian  the 

Apostate,  262 
Phocians,  the,  138,  238 
Phoenicia,  244 
Phoenician  fleet,  r42,  247 
Phoenician  traders,  129 
Phoenicians,  the,  33,  130 
Phormio,  230 

Phrygian  Mode  in  music,  224 
Phryne,  213 
Phrynichus,  174,  176 
Phthiotis,  41 
Pictographic  script,  20 
Pillar-worship,  29 

Pindar,  73,  76,  113,  129;  the  house 

of,  243 
Pipes,  224 

Piracy  on  the  /Egean,  105 
Pisirodus,  78 
Pittacus,  121 

"  Place  of  the  Wine-press,"  175 
Plataea,  battle  of,  87,  130,  135,  139, 

168  ;  Pheidias  and  statue  for  I'latasa, 

157 

Plato,  influence  of  Pythagoras  on, 
128;  on  feminine  nudity,  82;  sex 
problem,  180;  the  "Republic," 
209,  254;  and  Socrates,  231  ;  and 
the  Homeric  gods,  232  ;  his  ideal 
philosophy,  234  ;  Aristotle  and,  253  ; 
influence  of,  261 

Plato's  garden  of  the  Academy,  210 

"  Platonic"  love,  234 

Plautus,  253 

Pleading  in  litigation,  229 
Pleasure,  258 
Pliny,  149,  213.  2*9>  22$ 
Plutarch  on  Spartan  women,  90;  on 
Periclean  Athens,  1 50 ;  the  basis  of 

287 


INDEX 


his  narratives,  228;  his  biographies, 
262 
Pluto,  190 

Pnyx,  the,  229;  hill  of  Pnyx,  168 

Poetry,  religious  aspect  of,  75;  lyric, 
119;  lyric  poets,  129;  the  epic, 
hexameter  verse,  the  elegiac  couplet, 
epigrams,  pastoral,  249 ;  Alexandria 
and  poetry,  249;  Aristotle  and,  254 

Poets,  Ionian,  1 19-122 

Political  science,  Aristotle  and,  254, 
255 

Political  system,  Apollo  and,  73 
Politics,   Greek,    10;   in   the  fourth 

century,  209;  Plato,  254;  Aristotle, 

255 

Polycleitus,  80,  81,  159 
Polycrates,  tyrant  of  Samos,  104,  113 
Polygnotus,  164,  167,  191,  213,  223 
Pompeian  frescoes  and  mosaics,  223; 

mosaic  floor,  245  ;  Greek  art,  263 
Population,  decline  of,  239 
Portico,  the  Royal   167  ;  Portico  of 

Freedom,  167;  Decorated  Portico, 

167 

Portland  Vase,  the,  263 

Portraiture,  211;  on  coins,  226,  247 

Poseidon,  the  sea-god,  66 ;  Athena 
and,  95,  152;  worship,  96;  of 
Mycale,  112;  in  the  Parthenon 
frieze,  155;  and  the  salt  spring, 
165  ;  marks  of  his  trident,  166 

Posidonium,  128 

Potter's  wheel,  the,  22 

Pottery,  design  in,  and  progress,  19; 
Athenian,  112;  red-figured  style, 
224;  Panathenaic  amphorae,  225 

Praxiteles,  Statue  of  Brauronian 
Artemis,  164;  Hermes,  169,  209  -f 
and  Athena,  194 ;  nudity  in  sculp- 
ture, 211  ;  works  of,  213 

"  Praying  Boy,  The,"  220 

Priam,  palace  of,  60 

Professionalism,  210,  225 

Prometheus,  62 

288 


Protagoras,  235 
Psammetichus,  106 
Psyche,  189 

Ptolemies,  the,  244,  247,  248,  250 
Pugilism,  Cnossian,  25 
Punjaub,  the,  243 
Pyrrhus,  245,  261 

Pythagoras  of  Samos,  philosophy  of, 
74,  127  ;  immortality  taught  by,  190 
Pythian  games,  72,  76 
Pytho,  69,  71 

Quoit-thrower,  the,  81 

Racial  decline,  239 

Religion  of  the  Stone  Age,  18;  pre- 
historic Greek,  34  ;  early  religious 
beliefs,  65;  survival  of,  67;  and 
morality,  235 

Religious  significance  of  the  games, 
74-76;  of  poetry,  75 

Renaissance,  the,  and  Greek  thought,  3 

Republic,  an  Ideal,  254;  of  Aristotle, 
256 

Rhetoric,  228-231  ;  of  Aristotle,  254 
Rhodes,  237,  244;  gold  coins  of,  226; 

siege  of,  252 
Rhodian  sculptors  of  the  "  Laocoon," 

265 

Ridgeway,  Prof.  Wm.,  on  the  survival 
of  early  Greek  language,  32  ;  on 
naturalistic  worship,  34 ;  and  the 
invaders  of  Greece,  38 ;  on  Homer, 
51  ;  and  Greek  drama,  173 

Rock-tombs,  188 

Rodin,  M.,  148 

Romans,  the,  and  Greece,  245 ;  and 
Greek  philosophy,  258;  and  Hellen- 
ism, 260 ;  and  the  control  of 
Greece,  261  ;  and  Graeco-Roman 
art,  265 

Romantic,  the,  in  the  Greek  character, 
180 

Roof-tiles,  108 
Roxana,  242 


INDEX 


Royal  Portico,  the,  167 
Running  Girl  (statue),  161 
Ruskin,  John,  150 

Sacred  Band,  the,  180,  205 
"Sacred  Wars,"  241 
Sacrifice  and  ritual  at  Olympic  Games, 
77 

Sacrifices  and  the  dead,  66 
Salamis,  no,  138 
Samos,  142 
Samothrace,  252 
Sanitation,  Cnossian,  26 
Sappho,  1 1 9-1 2 1 
Sardis,  133 

Satyr,  the  young,  by  Praxiteles,  213, 
214,  215 

Satyric  drama  and  the  Satyrs,  173 
Scepticism,  Ionian,  122 
Scheria,  48 

Schliemann's  discoveries,  13 
Scopas  the  Parian,  212,  217,  221 
Sculpture  of  the  Homeric  period,  54  ; 
development  of,  69  j  inspired  by 
athletes,  80;  Ionian,  123  </  Kf  ; 
earliest  temple,  130;  before  Pheidias, 
147 ;  methods,  T48  ;  materials, 
149;  pediment  figures,  150;  me- 
topes, 153;  frieze  (Parthenon), 
153  ;  statues  by  Pheidias,  156,  157  ; 
works  of  sculptors,  1 59-16 1  ;  great 
sculptors,  159;  minor  sculptors, 
192;  of  the  fourth  century,  211; 
materials,  212;  anatomy,  212; 
supports,  213;  works  by  Praxiteles, 
213-217;  convention,  216;  tinted 
marble,  216;  Scopas,  217;  Lysip- 
pus,  218;  works  by  unknown  artists, 
219;  six  greatest  statues,  219; 
bronzes,  220;  the  Venus  of  Milo, 
251  ;  Graeco-Roman,  265  ;  the 
Laocoon,  265 
Scyros,  190 

Sea,  Hesiod  and  the,  63 ;  the  Greek 
true  element,  262 


Sea-power,  195 

Seleucid  kings,  the,  244 

Selinus,  130 

Sellasia,  239,  245  ■ 

Semites,  the,  1  29 

Seven  Sages,  the,  74,  toi,  106 

Seven  Wonders  of  the  World,  247 

Sex  problem,  the,  180 

Shakespeare  and  Menander,  253,  261 

Shelley's  "  Adonais,"  250 

Shield  of  Achilles,  the,  42-47 

Shields  lost  in  battle,  1  2  1 

Sicily,  tyranny  in,  104;  poets  in,  126; 
and  wheat,  127;  the  Semites  and 
(Carthaginian  invasion),  129,  137; 
Athens  and,  142,  144,  195  ;  Idylls 
of  Theocritus,  249;  history,  250 

Sicyon,  104,  109 

Sidon  sarcophagus,  246 

Sigeum,  1 10,  121 

Simonides,  104,  109,  113,  122,  129 

Simplicity,  Greek,  in  drama,  182 

Sirens,  the,  66 

Skirophoria,  99 

"Skdlia,"  114 

Slavery,  145,  171,  236 

Slavs,  the,  262 

Snake  worship,  69,  99 

Socialist,  Pericles  a,  143;  Plato  the 
father  of  socialism,  255 

Socrates  and  the  education  of  women, 
82  ;  and  Alcibiades,  144  ;  attacks 
upon,  145  ;  and  Aspasia,  146;  and 
the  Royal  Portico,  167  ;  Xenophon 
and,  203;  the  personality  of,  231  ; 
trial  and  death,  232  ;  his  philosophy, 
23'»  234 

Soldiers,  Spartan,  204  ;  professional, 
238 

Solon,  the  Spartans  and,  74  ;  his  laws, 
97.  99.  100.  »9>  ;  poetry,  100 ; 
and  Egypt,  101  ;  and  Peisistratus, 
no;  and  Cleisthenes,  118;  and 
funerals,  191  ;  historians  and,  228 

Sophistry,  231 

289 


INDEX 


Sophocles,  actors  in,  174;  and  the 
Athenian  spirit,  177;  number  of 
his  works,  182;  and  Aristophanes, 
186 

SophrosujiJ,  10 

Sparta,  conservative  in  type,  6 ;  its 
smallness,  10;  political  system,  73, 
83;  and  the  Olympian  Games,  77; 
government,  84  ;  kings,  84 ;  Epho- 
rate,  85  ;  Mixed  Constitution,  86 ; 
an  aristocracy,  87 ;  Helots,  87  ; 
Neighbours,  or  Perioikoi,  87  ;  the 
city,  87  ;  as  conqueror,  88  ;  military 
education  and  discipline,  83,  88- 
89 ;  art,  88 ;  coinage,  89 ;  educa- 
tion, 89 ;  women,  90 ;  marriage 
customs,  90 ;  children  and  youths, 
91 ;  warfare,  92  ;  relaxations,  93  ; 
Spartan  character,  93  ;  conservatism, 
94;  and  Persian  invasion,  137  ;  and 
democracy,  196;  and  Lysander, 
200 ;  domination  and  aggression  of, 
198,  203,  205  ;  an  inland  power, 
199;  government,  200;  soldiers, 
204  ;  and  Thebes,  207  ;  reformation 
of,  239  ;  and  the  confederacies,  244 ; 
government  under  the  Romans,  261 

Sparta  and  Athens,  133,  135,  195; 
conflict  between,  83,  143 

Spartans  of  the  Dorian  race,  40 

Spartiate  race  of  Lacedsemon,  239 

Spartiates,  the,  84,  87,  88,  239 

Sphacteria,  144,  160 

Sphinx,  the,  58 

"Spinario,"  the,  161 

Stackelberg,  Baron  von,  170 

Stadium,  the,  226 

Stage,  the,  174,  175 

StagTra,  253 

Stesichorus  of  Himera,  129 

Stoic  philosophy,  the,  167,  257,  258 

Stoicism  and  Christianity,  261 

Stone  Age,  the,  in  Crete,  18 

Strategoi,  117 

Studniczka,  Prof.,  126 

290 


Styx,  the,  189,  233 
"  Successors,  the,"  244 
Sulla,  220 

Swinburne,  A.  C,  on  Sappho,  120 
Sybaris,  127,  128 

Syracuse,  poets  of,  129;  tyrants  of, 
78,  129,  250;  Doric  columns,  131; 
coins,  129,  131,  225 

"Syrinx,"  the,  224 

Tanagra  statuettes,  227 
Tartarus,  233 
Taygetus,  Mount,  87 
"Tearless  Battle,"  208 
Tegea,  218 
Telamon,  147 

Telamones  of  Acragas,  166 
Tempe,  9,  137 

Temples,  Doric,  in  Selinus,  130 

Ten  Thousand,  the  march  of  the,  201 

Tenean  Apollo,  69 

Tenedos,  226 

Terence,  253 

Terpander,  88,  122 

Textile  art  in  Homer,  55 

Thalamos,  59 

Thalassa  (Sea),  152 

Thalassocracies,  15 

Thales  of  Miletus,  101,  119,  122 

Thaletus,  15 

Theagenes,  no 

Theatre  of  Dionysus,  168,  175,  226 
Theatres,  173 

Theban  and  Persian  alliance,  207 
Thebes  and  the  Persians,  137;  and 
Epaminondas,  205 ;  Theban  hege- 
mony, 207  ;  destroyed,  243 
Themis,  69 

Themistocles  and  the  sea,  5  ;  and 
ships,  135 ;  and  the  sea-fight  of 
Salamis,  138-140;  ostracised,  141; 
biographies  of,  228 

Theocritus,  180,  249,  261 

Theopompus,  228 

Theramenes,  100,  197,  232 


INDEX 


Thermopylae,  92,  93,  113,  13S 
Theron,  130 
Thersltes,  50 
Theseum,  the,  167 

Theseus,  the  story  of,  15;  legendary 
King  of  Athens,  96,  97  ;  Peisis- 
tratus  and,  no,  xiij  the  Pan- 
athenaea,  112;  "Theseus"  statue, 
152  ;  the  contests  of  (sculpture), 
153;  and  Peirithous,  180;  the 
bones  of,  97,  190 

Thesmophoria,  98 

Thespis,  174 

Thessalians,  the,  38 

Thessaly,  18,  137,  237 

Thetis,  51 

Thirty  Tyrants,  the,  197,  232 

"  Tholos,"  29 

Thorwaldsen,  A.,  147 

Thrace,  gold  in,  6  ;  and  expansion  of 
Athens,  240  ;  coin  of,  246 

Thracian  Chersonese,  the,  110 

Thrasybulus,  197 

"Three  Fates,  The,"  152 

Thucydides  and  tradition,  100 ;  and 
Greek  tragedy  in  history,  136; 
and  Pericles,  143;  and  the  per- 
spective of  Greek  history,  194; 
ethical  purpose,  228  ;  speeches  in, 
229 

Thurii,  142 

Tiberius,  Emperor,  218 

Timanthes,  79 

Tim6theus  of  Miletus,  224 

Tiryns,  24,  28 

Tissaphernes,  199,  201 

Tombs,  188;  Mycenaean,  29;  objects 

from,  191 
Tombstones,  192 
Traeis,  battle  of  the,  127 
Tragedy,   173-183;  development  of, 

76 

Triphylia,  202 
Tripod  of  Delphi,  68 
Triptolemus,  98,  190 


Troy,  ruins  of,  13,  36  ;  Homer  and,  41 
Truce,  Sacred,  77 
Turkestan,  243 

Turkey,  rule  of,  and  war  with  modern 

Greece,  262 
Tyranny,  256 
Tyrants,  the,  104,  105 
Tyre,    244 ;    destroyed,     247  ;  and 

Sidon,  129 
Tyrtasus,  88 

"Unities,"  the  dramatic,  182 

Valhalla,  189 
Vaphio  gold  cups,  30 
"Varvakeion"  statuette,  148 
Vase-painting,  decadence,  265 
Vases,    funeral,    [91  ;    metal  vases, 

225.    See  also  Pottery 
Vatican,  the,  265 
Venetians,  the,  262 

Venus,    213;    Medici    Venus,  214; 

Venus  of  Milo,  251 
Vergil,  261 

Victory,  Parthenon  pediment,  152  ; 
at  Olympia,  160;  the  Wingless 
Victory,  164;  of  Brescia,  252;  of 
Samothrace,  252 

Virtue,  257 

Vitruvius  on  the  orders  of  architecture, 
227 

Waldstein,  Prof.,  on  the  Parthenon 

figures,  152 
War  and  Democracy,  195 
War  of  Independence,  262 
Warfare  among  the  Greeks,  203 
Wedgwood  art,  263 

Whitelaw's,      Mr.,     translation  of 

Sophocles,  178 
Winckelmann,  265 
Wolf-god,  99 

Women  in  Homer,  58;  and  nudity, 
82;  and  gymnastics,  82;  Spartan 
women,  90 

291 


INDEX 


Wordsworth's  "  Ode  on  Immortality  " 

and  the  Platonic  theory,  234 
Writing,  earliest  European,  20 

Xanthippus,  141 
Xanthus,  Harpy  Tomb,  188,  123 
Xen6phanes  of  Colophon,  128 
Xenophon  and  the  Persian  war,  201  ; 
the    Catabasis,    202 ;    retires  to 
Sparta,  202  •  his  works,  203 ;  and 
the   battle   of    Leuctra,    206 ;  as 
writer,  210;   favours  Sparta,  228; 
and  Socrates,  231 


Xerxes,  72,  116,  136,  139 

Zaleucus  of  Locri,  73,  128 
Zeno,  167,  257 

Zeus,  birthplace  of,  15 ;  heaven  of, 
39 ;  in  Homer,  50 ;  and  minor 
deities,  66 ;  athletic  honours  to. 
76 ;  in  the  Parthenon  pediment, 
151;  the  "Dresden  Zeus,"  148, 
gold  statue  of,  at  Olympia,  109;  by 
Pheidias,  148,  149;  temple  of,  m, 
168,  261 ;  Zeus  Ammon,  251 

Zeuxis,  191,  213,  223 

Zoology,  Aristotle  and,  254 


